The court confirmed that the defense's evidence cannot be assessed at the quashing stage, emphasizing the need for a trial to evaluate such claims.

ORDER

The petitioner herein is the 2nd accused in C.C. No.396/2022 pending on the files of the Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Piravom. In the aforesaid case, he is facing prosecution for having committed offences punishable under Sections 323, 324, 506(ii), 294(b) and 509 read with Section 34 of the IPC.

2. The prosecution allegation is that on 24.10.2019 at about 5.30 p.m, in connection with a Church dispute, a group of persons, which include the petitioner, are alleged to have attacked the informant with a stick and caused injuries.

3. The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner has been falsely implicated in the instant case. He would contend that the petitioner was pursuing his Bachelor’s degree in Bangalore on 24.10.2019, and he was not even present at the scene of the occurrence. In order to substantiate his contention, reliance is placed on Annexure A5 Admit Card and Annexure A6 statement of marks. According to the learned counsel, a counter case has been registered against the informant and others in connection with another incident and the instant crime has been registered merely as a counterblast.

4. In response, the learned Public Prosecutor submitted that the contention of the petitioner that he was not in the station at the relevant point of time can be taken up before the learned Magistrate during trial, and this Court will not be justified in relying on the documents produced before this Court to quash the proceedings. It is further submitted that from the records made available before this Court, it is evident that the name of the petitioner herein has been mentioned by the informant and the other witnesses. Finally, it is urged that the offenses disclosed in the FIR make out a cognizable offense, and this court will not be justified in embarking upon an enquiry as to the reliability or genuineness or otherwise of the allegations made in the FIR.

5. I have considered the submissions advanced and have gone through the records made available before this Court. The statements of witnesses as well of the investigation conducted by the Police, disclose that the Petitioner was also present on 24/10/2019 and he is also alleged to have taken part in assaulting the informant. The main contention of the Petitioner is that he was not in station on the date on which the incident had taken place. This contention is taken based on certain documents, the authenticity of which cannot be ascertained by this Court in this petition. The question is whether the documents produced by the defense which cannot be said to be unimpeachable, can be relied upon by this Court at this stage.

6. InRavindra Kumar Madhanlal Goenka v. Rugmini Ram Raghav Spinners (P) Ltd., (2009) 11 SCC 529 the Apex Court had occasion to observe that the materials furnished by the defense cannot be looked into while considering a petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure . It was observed as follows in paragraphs 18 and 19 of the judgment.

18. While entertaining a petition under Section 482 CrPC, the materials furnished by the defence cannot be looked into and the defence materials can be entertained only at the time of trial. It is a well-settled position of law that when there are prima facie materials available, a petition for quashing the criminal proceedings cannot be entertained. The investigating agency should have had the freedom to go into the whole gamut of the allegations and to reach a conclusion of its own. Pre-emption of such investigation would be justified only in very extreme cases.

19. While considering the facts of the present case, we are of the considered opinion that the present case is not one of those extreme cases where criminal prosecution can be quashed by the Court at the very threshold. A defence case is pleaded but such defence is required to be considered at a later stage and not at this stage. The appellants would have ample opportunity to raise all the issues urged in this a