IMPORTANT POINTS
(1) Further investigation – Power of investigation officer under Section 173(8) of Cr.P.C to conduct a further investigation is very wide and it can be invoked at any stage of proceedings.
(2) Possibility of another conclusion from materials collected cannot be a reason for invoking powers under Section 173(8) of Cr.P.C.

JUDGMENT

The issues involved in these writ petitions are in relation to the investigation in Crime No 727/2004 of Kollam East Police Station, which is renumbered as Crime No.119/CB/KLM & PTA/2018 of Crime Branch. The petitioner in WP(Crl)No.98/2022 is the defacto complainant, and the petitioner in WP(Crl)No. 426 of 2021 is the accused in the said crime. The offences alleged are under sections 420, 406, 408 and 403 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). For convenience, the parties are referred to in this writ petition as the defacto complainant and the accused.

2. The crime mentioned above was registered based on a private complaint submitted by the defacto complainant before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Kollam, on 27.09.2004 alleging offences punishable under sections 403, 406, 408 and 420 of IPC. The learned Magistrate referred the same to the Kollam East Police Station for investigation under section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.PC) and accordingly, the aforesaid crime was registered. Initially, after completing the investigation, a refer report was submitted by the police, which was objected to by the defacto complainant. The learned Magistrate accepted the objections, and a further investigation was ordered. After conducting further investigation, the police filed a supplementary final report stating that the offences were undetected, and this was also objected to by the defacto complainant. Therefore, a further investigation was conducted. Meanwhile, the defacto complainant approached this court by filing WP(C) No.36361/2016, contending that no proper investigation was being conducted and hence the transfer of investigation to any other agency was sought. The said writ petition was allowed by directing the Crime Branch to constitute a Special Investigation Team and conduct the investigation. Accordingly, a team was formed, the crime was renumbered as above, and an investigation was conducted. Upon completion thereof, a final report implicating the accused was submitted, upon which cognizance was taken by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kollam, as C.C. No 50/2020, which is now pending trial.

3. The prosecution case is as follows; The defacto complainant is a member of the Board of Trustees of Sree Narayana Trust, Kollam (SN Trust). The accused has been the Secretary of the Trust since 1995. It is a Public Trust, running various establishments throughout the State, including various educational institutions. One of its most prominent educational institutions is Sree Narayana College, Kollam. As the year 1997-1998 was the Golden Jubilee year of the said College, the trust decided to celebrate the same. For the said purpose, a committee was formed, and the accused, the Secretary of the SN Trust, was selected as the Convener of the said committee. A bank account was opened in the Extension Counter of South Indian Bank in SN College, Kollam bearing No 3307, in the name of the accused, showing him as the convener of the Golden Jubilee Celebration Committee. Huge amounts were collected from various sources, such as donations, coupons etc. It is alleged that, in the said account, a total amount of Rs.65,58,107/- was collected, and as on 15.03.1999, the amounts in the said account, along with interest, was Rs.67,24,669/-. Besides the same, an All India Exhibition was conducted as part of the celebrations in the College, for which an exhibition committee (sub-committee) was formed wherein CW6, Prof. Sathyan, was the convener. It was alleged that the accused misappropriated a substantial portion of the said amounts by diverting funds to other channels without any authorisation. The basic allegations are in respect of three transactions, which are as follows;—

(i) On 16/12/1997, the accused withdrew by cash an amount of Rs.25,00,000/- by presenting cheque No. 522408 without any authorisation of the committee. The same was later deposited as a Fixed Deposit in the Dhanalakkshmi bank, Cherthala, only on 16.06.1998