The Kerala High Court has instructed the Kollam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court to dispose of the Kollam SN College golden jubilee fund mismanagement case against Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan within one year.
The Crime Branch had submitted the chargesheet on July 24, 2020 but no court proceedings had been initiated during the last 15 months. Petitioner P.Surendrababu had approached the High Court to issue summons to the accused and dispose of the case within a time frame.
As per the chargesheet, the accused had committed offences, including criminal misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, and cheating of funds by deceiving the members of the golden jubilee celebration committee and the public.
The Crime Branch had taken 16 years to submit the chargesheet in the case filed in 2004 and it was revealed that Mr.Natesan had caused wrongful loss to the golden jubilee celebration committee and a corresponding wrongful gain to himself.
Observing that it was a crime originated long back and the petitioner was a septuagenarian now aged 75, the High Court, in its order, says that the case should be given a logical conclusion at the earliest.
“It is made clear that this case shall not be adjourned by notification, shall be called in the court itself and shall be disposed of within a period of one year,” says the court.
According to the chargesheet, the accused was selected as the general convener and the convener of the finance committee of the golden jubilee celebrations in 1997. He had opened a bank account for handling the funds mainly constituted by donations from the public.
An all-India exhibition was also conducted to raise funds and the committee had entrusted the accused with the responsibility of constructing a library complex on the campus with the balance amount. The chargesheet found that the accused had diverted funds with mala fide intention to misappropriate and utilise the same for some purposes under his wish and auspicious.
It also stated that the accused had made several transactions without the consent or knowledge of the committee members. The library complex never materialised and the chargesheet also pointed out that the accused also caused to disappear all records related to the funds and expenditure.
