1. In this petition filed under Sec. 482 Cr.P.C. the petitioner who is the accused in Crime No. 446 of 2010 of Panangad Police Station seeks to quash the proceedings before the Court of the Addl. Chief Judicial Magistrate, (ACJM for short), Ernakulam, on the ground that the said proceedings have been commenced pursuant to Annexure - A1 notice issued by the Sub Inspector without any authority.

2. The interesting questions which arise for judicial resolution in this case are :

a) What is a "petty offence" ? ?

b) Is the Officer- in-charge of a police station entitled to summon an accused person to a criminal court to answer a charge against him in a case treated as a petty case ?

THE BACKGROUND FACTS

3. The facts leading to the filing of this petition can be summarised as follows:-

The petitioner aged 42 years and residing at Maradu near Vyttila, Ernakulam claims to be the sole breadwinner of his family. He is running a small shop near Maradu junction where he is doing repair of electronic goods. In the night of 23-2-2010 after closing his shop the petitioner was rushing home on his scooter bearing Reg. No. KL 39-7203 along the Kundannur-Petta road. The time was 10.20 in the