IMPORTANT POINT
Further investigation is being conducted to cure some procedural or technical irregularities in the charge sheet already filed before the court, cannot be a sufficient ground to issue a direction to the investigating officer to drop such investigation.

ORDER :

The petitioner is the first accused in the case C.C.No.378 of 2010 on the file of Court of the Judicial First Class Magistrate-III, Neyyattinkara.

2. The case was originally registered as Crime No.74/2010 of Vellarada police station against four persons for the offence punishable under Section 420 read with 34 I.P.C. The allegation in the case was that the accused therein obtained a total amount of Rs.3,95,000/-as deposit from the de facto complainant Varghese Mathew on behalf of Aiswarya Finance and that they did not return the amount to him and thereby cheated him.

3. After completing the investigation, the Sub Inspector of Police, Vellarada police station filed charge sheet in Crime No.74/2010 against three persons for the offence punishable under Section 420 read with 34 I.P.C. The petitioner herein was not made an accused in that charge sheet. Cognizance was taken by the learned Magistrate and the case was numbered as C.C.No.378/2010 on 08.06.2010.

4. Subsequently, the Crime Branch conducted further investigation in the case and filed charge sheet on 06.06.2015 against four persons, including the petitioner as the first accused, for the offences punishable under Sections 406 and 420 read with 34 I.P.C and Sections 45S and 58B of the Reserve Bank of India Act.

5. On 31.08.2018, the Deputy Superintendent of Police, CBCID (EOW) filed Ext.P4 report in the Magistrate's Court stating that further investigation of the case is being conducted under Section 173(8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Code') and prayed that the trial of the case may be stopped. As per Ext.P5 order dated 17.09.2018, the learned Magistrate granted permission to conduct further investigation and directed the investigating officer to file report in the court.

6. The petitioner has filed this original petition under Article 227 of the Constitution of India for setting aside Ext.P5 order passed by the learned Magistrate and to direct the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Crime Branch to drop the further investigation being conducted in the case and also to issue direction to the learned Magistrate to expedite the trial of the case.

7. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Public Prosecutor.

8. The petitioner has challenged the further investigation being conducted by the Crime Branch in the case on the following grounds: (1) Further investigation cannot be conducted after the commencement of the trial of the case by the court. (2) The reasons stated for conducting further investigation are not sustainable in law. (3) Further investigation to rectify the defects in the investigation already conducted is not permissible.

9. Before examining the merits of the aforesaid contentions, it has to be noted that the allegation against the accused in the charge sheet filed by the Crime Branch is that they had obtained a total amount of Rs.1,27,07,375/-as deposit in the Aiswarya Finance from 66 persons and that the accused did not return the amount to them and also that gold ornaments pledged by seven other persons were also not returned and that the accused acted in violation of the provisions contained in the Reserve Bank of India Act. It is also to be noted here that the role of the petitioner herein in the case is that she worked as a collection agent of Aiswarya Finance and that she purchased the property of the second accused in the case who had also worked as a collection agent of the aforesaid finance company.

10. Section 173 of the Code provides for submission of a report by an officer in charge of a police station on completion of the investigation to the Magistrate empowered to take cognizance of the offence. Sub-section (8) of Section 173 provides that nothing in that section shall be deemed to preclude further investigation in respect of an offence after a report under sub-section (2) has been forwarded to the Magistrate and, whereupon such investigation, the officer in charge of the police station obt