JUDGMENT :

1. 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