IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE N.K.BALAKRISHNAN WEDNESDAY, THE 9TH NOVEMBER 2011 / 18TH KARTHIKA 1933 OP(Crl.).No. 3535 of 2011(Q) ---------------------------- CC.5/2009 of SPECIAL CBI COURT I, ERNAKULAM .................... PETITIONER(S): ------------------------- TONY THARAKAN, AGED 42 YEARS, S/O. LATE P.V. THARAKAN, PARAYIL HOUSE, 20/272 A, THYNOTHIL ROAD, ALUVA. BY SRI.P.G.THAMPI, SENIOR ADVOCATE, BY ADV. SRI.G.PRIYADARSAN THAMPI. RESPONDENT(S): ---------------------------- UNION OF INDIA, REPRESENTED BY THE SPECIAL PUBLIC PROSECUTOR,C.BI, HIGH COURT OF KERALA, ERNAKULAM. BY ADV.SRI. P.CHANDRASEKHARAN PILLAI, SC, CBI THIS OP (CRIMINAL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 09/11/2011, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: Kss OP(CRL.)NO.3535/2011 Q APPENDIX PETITIONER'S EXHIBITS: P1: COPY OF THE CHARGE SHEET I CC.NO.5/2009 OF SPECIAL C.B.I. COURT I, ERNAKULAM. P2: COPY OF THE ORDER DTD. 17/12/2010 IN CRL.M.C.NO.4540/2010 OF THIS HON'BLE COURT. RESPONDENT'S EXHIBITS: N I L /TRUE COPY/ P.S.TO JUDGE Kss N.K.BALAKRISHNAN, J. ---------------------------------------------------- O.P.(Crl.)No.3535 of 2011 ---------------------------------------------------- Dated this the 9th day of November, 2011 Judgment The petitioner is one of the accused in CC No.5 of 2009 which is now pending before the Court of Special Judge (SPE/CBI)-I, Ernakulam. The offences alleged against him are under Sections 409, 419, 468, 471 and 120B IPC and Sections 13 (1)(c) and 13(1)(d) read with Section 13(2) of P.C.Act, 1988. The petitioner has filed this petition for issuance of a direction to the court below to dispose of the aforesaid case within a time frame to be fixed by this court. 2. The learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Standing Counsel for the C.B.I. have been heard. 3. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner has to go abroad and that he was permitted by this court to apply for a passport and so unless the case is disposed of at the earliest, he cannot go abroad. This submission is strongly resisted by the learned Standing Counsel for the C.B.I. pointing out that this accused was earlier absconding and that, it was only OP(Crl.)3535/2011 2 with the help of Interpol the presence of the petitioner could be secured. It is also submitted that it is a case where this petitioner along with other accused caused wrongful loss to the Union Bank of India, Kozhikode Branch to the tune of Rs.514.62 lakhs. For that purpose this accused and others have forged bogus export documents in pursuance of a criminal conspiracy they entered into. Specific allegations made against the petitioner are with regard to the forgery of bills and other documents; by making use of the same the accused caused wrongful loss to the Bank as mentioned above. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the court may fix the time within which the trial may be completed. This request is strongly opposed by the learned Standing Counsel for the C.B.I. stating that so many cases are pending before that court and there is no justification for giving preference to the accused especially where several witnesses are to be examined. 4. It is pointed out that for examination of one witness itself take several days since hundred of documents are to be marked through the witnesses. Since so many witnesses are to be examined and hundreds of documents are to be marked, OP(Crl.)3535/2011 3 especially referring to the relevant entries in each of such documents, the examination of the prosecution witnesses itself will take several days, if not months together. In such circumstances, the contention that the case should be disposed of within a specified time frame cannot be accepted. However, the learned Special Judge will try to post the case for trial for examination of the witnesses at the earliest provided there are no older cases to be given preference to. Subject to the above observation, this Original Petition is disposed of. N.K.BALAKRISHNAN, JUDGE. srd OP(Crl.)3535/2011 4