Jurisdiction under Article 226 post-investigation culmination must be pursued through appropriate legal forums, not through writ petitions.

JUDGMENT

This writ petition seeks for a direction to transfer Crime No.56/2023 of Poovar Police Station, Thiruvananthapuram, to the Crime Branch or any other higher officials. There is a further relief seeking a direction to consider Ext.P4 representation filed by the petitioner before respondents 1 to

3.

2. The petitioner alleges that 6 of his cows were stolen and he raised his suspicion against respondents 4 and 5. Based on the complaint a crime was registered as FIR No.56/2023 of Poovar Police Station, for the offence under Section 379 IPC . According to the petitioner, the cows went missing on 04.01.2023, and the 5^th respondent had on questioning trespassed into his house and even attacked him. Petitioner alleges that despite registering the FIR no action has been initiated to investigate the matter and therefore, he is compelled to approach this Court seeking the reliefs mentioned earlier.

3. The learned Government Pleader, upon instructions, submitted that the crime was investigated in detail, but it was referred as undetected as per a report filed on 25.11.2023, before the jurisdictional magistrate.

4. Having heard the learned counsel for the petitioner as well as the learned Government Pleader, this Court is of the view that since the FIR resulted in a final report dated 25.11.2023, the remedy of the petitioner, if aggrieved, is to initiate appropriate proceedings in accordance with law before the appropriate forum. Recourse to the jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India , after the culmination of the investigation, for the purpose of transferring the investigation to another authority, is not tenable in the peculiar circumstances of the case. Hence, this writ petition is dismissed reserving the liberty of the petitioner to approach the jurisdictional forum in accordance with law, if available.

Sd/-