O R D E R

Dated this the 23^rd day of February, 2026 The petitioner is the accused in S.T.No.954/2024 on the file of the Court of the Judicial First Class Magistrate-III (Mobile), Kannur, (‘Trial Court’ for short), which has been registered on the basis of a private complaint filed by the 2^nd respondent Panchayat alleging the commission of the offences punishable under Section 210 of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act (‘Act’, for brevity) read with Rule 27 of the Kerala Panchayat Raj (Taxation, Levy and Appeal) Rules, 1996 (‘Rules’, in short).

2. The allegation in the complaint filed by the 2^nd respondent Panchayat, in brief, is that; the petitioner, who is the owner of a building having 31 rooms situated in the Panchayat, failed to pay the building tax for each rooms for the period of first half of 2023-2024 despite the receipt of the demand notice issued under Rule 14(1) of the Rules.

Thus, the petitioner has committed the above offences.

3. I have heard the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, the learned Public Prosecutor and the learned Standing Counsel for the respondents 2 and 3.

4. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that, even if the allegations in Annexure A7 c