High Court upholds conviction in rape case

 A Special Bench of the Kerala High Court trying cases of atrocities against women on Tuesday upheld the punishment awarded to Balakrishnan alias Nazar of Hosdurg, for raping his step-daughter.

The Assistant Sessions Court, Hosdurg, had awarded the accused rigorous imprisonment of eight years for having forcible sex with the victim. The accused had raped the victim on many occasions and impregnated her. He had also intimidated the victim, who was aged 14 years, not to discuss the matter with anyone. The accused had married the mother of the victim after her first husband's death. The victim's mother filed a case against the accused at Vellanikad police station.

Passing the order, Justice P. Bhavadasan observed that the evidence provided by the victim and her mother could be accepted. There was nothing to show that the evidence available in the case was unbelievable, the order said.

Decision upheld

A Division Bench of the High Court upheld the decision of a Single Bench quashing the First Information Report (FIR) filed against K.S. Premachandra Kurup, former director of the Cooperative Academy for Professional Education, for using the designation IAS in his letterhead after ceasing to be a member of the Indian Administrative Service. It was also mentioned in the FIR that he had committed an offence under Section 170 of the Indian Penal Code, which dealt with "personating a public servant."

Delivering the judgement, Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and K. Vinod Chandran said the use of the designation IAS in the letterhead was a highly irregular action, which was definitely unbecoming of an officer who was relieved from IAS, does not constitute an offence under Section 170, warranting penal action against such persons.

The ingredients for the Section 170 were totally absent in the case. There was also no impersonation of any other officer in IAS who is holding a post under the government, the order said.

The Bench pointed out that irregularity or impropriety, assumed or real, cannot lead to a personal prosecution.

Bunty Chor case

The petition of Devinder Singh alias Bunty Chor, the accused in the recent high-tech theft case in Thiruvananthapuram, to set aside the order of the Judicial First Class Magistrate court, Vanchiyoor, remanding him in police custody for six days, was posted for Wednesday by the Kerala High Court.

In a statement filed before the High Court on Tuesday, K.E. Baiju, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Crime Detachment, said the accused was a "notorious criminal hailing from New Delhi" who had more than 700 burglaries to his credit.

The present case was that he had stolen a Mitsubishi Outlander car, laptop, two mobile phones, cash, remote system, a bench of key, a high-beam torch, MBBS certificate, and some jewellery from the house of K.V.G Nair, Marappalam Gardens, Thiruvananthapuram, he said.

The petitioner contended that the six-day police custody was unwarranted and he was taken into custody not in connection with the present case registered by the Peroorkada police. Opposing the plea, T. Asif Ali, Director General of Prosecution, argued that the police custody was sought to recover the stolen goods.