1. The petitioner is the accused No 1 in S.C. No.1485 of 2008 on the file of the Additional Sessions Court-VII Thriuvanathapuram.

2. Trial has commenced and as many as 77 witnesses were examined on the side of the prosecution. The incriminating materials were put to the accused under section 313 (1)(b) and the accused were asked to enter upon their defence. An application was thereafter filed for compelling the attendance of 29 persons to prove the defence version. The said application was partly allowed and summons were ordered to be issued to CW1 to CW5, CW7 , CW 8 and CW 27 in the list. Challenging the refusal to issue summons to the rest of the witnesses, the instant petition is filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

3. Heard Sri B. Raman Pillai, the learned Senior Counsel Appearing for the Petitioner as well as Sri K.V. Sohan, the learned State Attorney.

4. The learned Senior counsel would at the outset itself submit that a fair trial is the main object of criminal jurisprudence and it includes the grant of a fair and sufficient opportunity to the accused to prove his case as well. Adducing evidence in support of the defense version is a valuable right an