Point of Law: In the absence of any material indicating influence being thrust upon him at the instance of such superior officers, an order for transferring the investigation to another agency cannot be made.

ORDER :

The petitioner is the 1st accused in Crime No.6/2022 of Crime Branch Police Station, (hereinafter referred to as Crime No.6/2022). This Crl.M.C. is filed for quashing all further proceedings pursuant to the FIR registered in the said case, which is produced as Annexure-9. The said crime is registered against him and four others, alleging offences punishable under Sections 506, 116, 118, 120B r/w. Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

2. The allegation against the petitioner and other accused is that on 15.11.2017, they threatened and hatched a criminal conspiracy to do away with Smt.B.Sandhya, the present Director- General of Police (Fire & Rescue), Sri. A.V. George, present Inspector General of Police, Sri.Sudharsan and Sri. Sojan, both presently working as Superintendent of Police and the 3rd respondent in this Crl.M.C, who is a Deputy Superintendent of Police (Crime Branch). The alleged motive of the petitioner and other accused is that, in an earlier criminal prosecution, the investigation was conducted by a Special Investigation Team consisting of the above persons, and the petitioner was implicated as one of the accused.

3. Before going to the facts of Crime No.6/2022, which is the subject matter of this case, it is necessary to go into the facts which led to the registration of that previous crime, as it has some intrinsic connection with this case. The aforesaid crime is numbered as 297/2017 of Nedumbasserry Police Station. The trial of the same is now pending as S.C.No.118/2018 before the Additional Special Judge (SPE/CBI Court-III), Ernakulam. The aforesaid case is a prequel to the present case. The circumstances under which the aforementioned case was registered are as follows:

On 17.02.2017, a well-known film actress in the Malayalam film industry was subjected to sexual assaults and verbal threats in a moving vehicle. The aforesaid sexual assaults were captured on a camera by the assailants with the intention to blackmail her. In connection with the said incident, F.I.R. No.297/2017 was registered by Nedumbassery Police Station for the offence punishable under Section 120B, 342, 366, 376D, 506(1), 201, 212 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code. After completing the investigation thereon, Annexure-I final report was submitted by the Police on 18.05.2017 against seven accused persons. The aforesaid final report was submitted based on an investigation conducted by the Special Team under the direct supervision of Smt.B. Sandhya, the then Additional Director General of Police (South Zone) and also consisted of 6 officers of the rank of DySP and many officers below that rank, including the 3rd respondent. Subsequently, based on the additional evidence gathered by the Special Investigation Team, the petitioner herein was implicated as the 8th accused, and a supplementary final report was submitted in this regard on 22.11.2017. The allegation against the petitioner was that the act of sexual assault was committed by the other accused on the instructions given by the petitioner herein, who was nursing some personal grudge against the victim because, the petitioner believed that, it was the victim who was instrumental for the termination of his marriage with his first wife. The petitioner was allegedly under the impression that the victim disclosed to the first wife of the petitioner about the relationship of the petitioner with another person. In connection with the investigation of the aforesaid case, the petitioner was arrested and detained in custody for a period of 84 days. The said case is pending trial, and all the witnesses cited by the prosecution therein except the investigation officer, who is the 3rd respondent herein, were examined. The examination of 3rd respondent is now to take place.

4. While so, on 25.12.2021, one Balachandra Kumar, who is one of the Directors of the Malayalam Film Industry, made certain revelations through a Malayalam News channel with regard to certain acts of the petitioner in connec