The court ordered a fresh investigation into the FIRs due to concerns of bias and lack of substantial evidence supporting the allegations, emphasizing the necessity of a fair investigation.

ORDER

Petitioners are the accused in three different crimes registered at different police stations. Primarily they seek to quash the crimes registered against them. Petitioner in Crl.M.C No.10250/2023 and those in Crl.M.C No.6037/2024 seeks to quash FIR No.1215/2023 of Adimaly Police Station, while the petitioners in Crl.M.C No.6695/2024 seek to quash FIR No.460/2024 of Ettumanoor Police Station. The petitioner in Crl.M.C No.6639/2024 prays for quashing the FIR in Crime No.277/2024 of Manarkad Police Station. In W.P(C) No.619/2024 petitioners pray for constituting a special team to investigate into FIR No.460/2024 of Ettumanoor Police Station. Since defacto complainant in the first two crimes is the same person and some of the accused are also common cases arising out of those crimes are to be disposed of together. The third crime was allegedly detected during the search in one of the other two crimes and hence the said case is also to be disposed of together.

2. The details, including the pleadings of each case, are given below separately, to appreciate the controversy:

Pleadings in Crl.M.C No.10250/2023 and Crl.M.C No.6037/2024 (FIR No.1215/2023) .

3. The petitioner in Crl.M.C No.10250/2023 is the first accused, while the petitioners in Crl.M.C No.6037/2024 are arrayed as accused 2 and 8 in FIR No.1215/2023 of Adimaly Police Station, which has now been renumbered as FIR No.16/2024 of Crime Branch, Idukki. Petitioners primarily seek to quash the crime registered against them. Other consequential reliefs of restraining coercive action against the accused have also been sought.

4. According to the allegations in the said FIR, while the defacto complainant was coming downhill in his Land Rover Defender Car bearing registration No.TO-623-KL-9627 from Mankulam to Ettumanoor in the evening on 16.09.2023, a Toyota Innova Car bearing registration No.KL-53-G-2480 travelling in the same direction, attempted to collide with the Defender vehicle with intent to topple it. The defacto complainant alleged that if his driver had not swerved the vehicle, the vehicles would have collided with each other and his car would have toppled down into the valley, injuring him fatally and thereby the accused allegedly committed the offences under section 120(b) read with section 308 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short ' IPC '). The crime was registered only on 30.09.2023, after 14 days of the incident and subsequently, the investigation was handed over to the District Crime Branch, who thereafter added additional offences under sections 120B of S. 302 and S. 307 as well.

5. Petitioner alleges that at the time of the alleged incident, he was abroad and that he had no knowledge at all of such an incident. According to him, a small road traffic accident between two vehicles is being attempted to be converted into a serious offence with ulterior purposes and a fake case is being concocted to trap him using the influence of the defacto complainant who was his erstwhile partner. It was alleged that despite this Court's direction to issue a notice under section 41A Cr.P.C, the police published a lookout notice in the newspapers and that too, in a crime based on assumptions.

6. A Statement dated 21-06-2024 has been filed by the Dy.S.P Crime Branch, Idukki, in Crl.M.C No.10250/2023 stating that the investigation conducted so far revealed that the accused had entered into a criminal conspiracy to kill the complainant at various places and a report altering the offences was filed on 16-03-2024 incorporating sections 120B of 302, 307, 201 and section 34 IPC , in place of 120B, 308 and 201 . The statement also alleges that the first accused was absconding and therefore lookout circulars were issued against him. In the meantime, the first accused came down to Kerala on 02-06-2024 and in view of the order of the Supreme Court, he was not arrested. The investigating officer further states that quotation teams are involved in the case and also that the accused had