Joshi N.Thomas vs State Of Kerala

Ziyad Rahman A.A., J

The petitioner, who is the unfortunate father of late Jerin, then aged 22 and a half, allegedly died under suspicious circumstances on 13/05/2011, has approached this court to quash Ext P15 order passed by the State Police Chief rejecting the application submitted by the petitioner to reopen the investigation in Crime No. 172/2011 of Athirappilly Police Stations.

The facts which led to the filing of this Writ Petition are as follows: Jerin, the son of the petitioner, went to Aroomuzhi, a picnic spot, on 13.05.2011 along with his near relatives and died there under suspicious circumstances. An F.I.R was registered as Crime No. 172/2011 by Athirapilly Police Station based on the statement given by one Aji Thomas, who had accompanied Jerin along with other relatives. The FIR was registered under section 174 of the Cr.P.C. After completing the investigation, the Sub Inspector of Police, Athirappally, submitted a refer report before the Sub Divisional Magistrate, Thrissur, stating that the death of the deceased was due to drowning. Being dissatisfied with the investigation, the petitioner submitted various complaints and acting upon the same, the Honourable Chief Minister of the State, directed the Crime Branch to look into the matter. Accordingly, the 5th respondent conducted a petition inquiry and closed the case. Further complaints submitted by the petitioner did not yield any fruitful results.

Therefore, the appellant had filed Writ Petition (Civil) No. 8872 of 2014 against the omission on the part of the 5th respondent in conducting a proper investigation. On 18/07/2014 the said writ petition was disposed of, directing further investigation by constituting a special team and to file a report within the time specified. Exhibit P3 is the report submitted by the Additional Director General of Police, North Zone. In the said report, it was stated that, the death of Jerrin Joshy was due to Asphyxia due to accidental drowning.

As the said Special team constituted as per the orders of this Court could not arrive at a different conclusion, another writ petition, namely WP(C) No. 22875/2015, was filed by the petitioner on 09/08/2017, which was disposed of directing the Additional Director General of Police Northern Zone to look into the entire aspect comprehensively and to consider whether any action is liable to be taken. Thereafter, the special team under the supervision of the then Superintendent of Police, Thrissur (Rural), was constituted. Though investigation got prolonged, but, ultimately, they filed a report before the Sub Divisional Magistrate confirming that it was a death by drowning.

In  such  circumstances,  the  petitioner filed W.P.(C)No.19237/2019 for further investigation to be conducted by the CBI. The said writ petition was dismissed on 25/08/2020 by a Single Bench of this Court. The petitioner then filed Writ Appeal No.1260/2020 challenging the said judgment which was also dismissed on 16/11/2020. Thereafter Review Petition No. 937/2020 was filed, and the same was dismissed on 22/12/2020.

The petitioner now alleges that, in the month of June 2021, a close relative of the suspects gave new information that death was caused by an act of one of the members of the touring party by administering spurious locally made liquor in soft drinks. The petitioner thereafter submitted representation before the Hon’ble Chief Minister for taking necessary action. As the 7th respondent issued Ext.P5 to the effect that, no further action is necessary based on the new information, further complaints were submitted by the petitioner and acting on the same, the Additional Director General of Police, vide Ext.P7 issued a communication addressing to the State Police Chief, recommending for further investigation in the matter. Later after many follow ups in the matter, the petitioner was served with Ext. P15 communication from the State Police Chief, wherein it was mentioned that further investigation again conducted by the police also revealed that it was a case of death by drowning. This writ petition is submitted by the petitioner in such circumstances.

In response to the averments contained in the writ petition, a statement has been filed by the Detective Inspector,-1, Crime Branch, Thrissur. It is stated therein that, as part of the further investigation, he recorded the statement of the petitioner, and wherein he stated that he recently met Sri. Jomon, a relative, and a person who accompanied the touring party along with his son on the ill-fated day. During the conversation, the said Jomon revealed that Sri. Aji, one of their common relative brought local arrack from Palakkad, and all of them, including the son of the petitioner, consumed the same. This is stated as the reason for which Jerin fell into the water and drowned to death. It is also stated in the report that, following the said lead, the investigation officer recorded the statement of the said Jomon. He denied any such statement having made to the petitioner and according to him, when he met the petitioner standing alone at the sepulchre of his son in SDT Augustine Church, Angamali, he intended to console him as he looked very sad and disappointed. It is further stated that he recorded the statement of brother George, the brother-in-law of the petitioner, who leads a monastic life, and a person who accompanied the touring party on the date of the incident. He stated that, on 13.11.2011, when the tour party was bathing in the river, Jerin accidentally fell into the water current and drowned to death. He further stated that he had no doubts about the death. In the statement, it is further mentioned that, as the petitioner is having some doubts about the death of the son, the investigation officer perused the Case Diary again, and being convinced of the fact that the death of the deceased was due to drowning, a report to that effect was submitted.

Heard the petitioner in person and Sri. M.P.Prashanth, the learned Government Pleader.

As mentioned above, the prayer sought by the petitioner is to reopen the investigation of the case and to conduct further investigation into the matter. It is discernible from the records that, the question of further investigation by the CBI is already considered by this court in W.P(C) No. 19237/2019, and the said prayer was rejected. Even though the said judgment was challenged in appeal, a Division Bench of this Court in W.A No 1260/2020 vide Ext P4 judgment dismissed the said appeal after elaborately considering all the  said  contentions.  Therefore  almost  all  the contentions raised by the petitioner highlighting certain aspects as discrepancies in the investigation were already considered by this Court, decided and finality has been attained to the same. It is also to be noted that, before filing of the WP(C)No.19237/2019, several times investigations were conducted, and on two occasions, Special Investigation teams were constituted. The conclusion reached after all the said investigations were one and the same.

The cause of action for this writ petition is the revelation claimed to have been made by one Jomon, a relative of the petitioner, to the effect that, on that day, one of the members of the touring party brought some locally made arrack from Palakkad, and all of them including the deceased consumed the same, which was the cause of the incident. Based on the same, further investigation was again conducted, and as part of the same, the statement of the said Jomon was recorded, but he denied having given any such statements. Ultimately, further investigation also resulted in the same finding as that of the earlier investigations. On perusing the entire materials, I am of the view that, there are no materials to conduct any further investigation into the matter. All the avenues are considered and a proper investigation by various officers at various levels are seen conducted, and the outcome is the same. The investigation so conducted has been already approved by the Division Bench of this court. The said judgment has become final; hence, the matters covered per the said judgment cannot be re-agitated.

The only remaining aspect is the revelation claimed to have been made by the said Jomon. However, the matter concerning the same was investigated further, but nothing new could be found. It is also to be noted in this regard that, according to the petitioner, the recent revelation relating to the consumption of locally made arrack by the touring party, including the deceased, is a matter which necessitates further investigation. However, in my view, that by itself would not raise any suspicion as to the death of the deceased. The cause of death is seen confirmed by all the investigation teams after taking into account the medical evidence as well. Therefore, the possibility of the present revelation, even if accepted, resulting in a different conclusion is too remote, and I do not think that it justifies a further investigation again by discarding the findings so far arrived at by various investigation officers in this regard.

Thus after considering all the relevant aspects, I am of the view that there is no merit in the writ petition and accordingly, the same is dismissed.