Judge whose minor son ran over man in Kochi booked for attempt to destroy proof: Police

The additional district judge in the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal in Keralam, whose 17-year-old son rammed his luxury vehicle into a scooter and killed the rider last month, was booked under fresh charges of attempting to destroy evidence on Monday, police said.

The judge was earlier booked on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, along with rash and negligent driving, under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and under provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act.

According to Cheranalloor police, the family of the victim, Jayabalakrishnan, on Sunday registered a fresh complaint, alleging the minor’s father spent a lot of time at the accident site in a bid to destroy the evidence in the case. The complaint also alleged the judge visited Cheranalloor police station after the accident and forced an officer to delete a photograph of his son clicked by a member of the victim's family.

Also read | 17-year-old in Mercedes-Benz rams scooter in Kochi, kills street food vendor

There was no immediate comment from the police on the allegation pertaining to the deletion of the photograph till the time of filing this report.

Kochi city police commissioner R Nishanthini confirmed the receipt of the complaint. The police said the judge was later booked on charges of attempting to destroy evidence in the case.

"I spoke to the family earlier and convinced them that they have nothing to worry about. The Chief Minister and the Home Minister also spoke to them," Nishanthini told reporters.

The punishment for destruction of evidence is imprisonment of up to three years, or with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees, or with both.

A Mercedes-Benz driven by the judge’s minor son hit the two-wheeler near Cheranalloor at around 2.30am on October 25. The victim, a resident of Manjali who ran a street food cart in Chittor area, was thrown into the air and died on the spot.

Also read | 'He is a judicial officer, will cooperate': Kerala HC grants anticipatory bail to judge whose son was involved in Kochi car crash

Reports said the car involved in the collision is a 2012 model vehicle and was used by the judge for official travel.

The accused was immediately caught and handed over to the police but was granted station bail. He was later produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, which granted him bail on account of absence of prior criminal history.

The judge was granted interim protection from arrest by the Kerala High Court on Thursday. He told the court he was asleep at the time of the incident and was not aware his son had taken the vehicle from the house.

Also read | Kerala judge says he was asleep when son took Mercedes involved in fatal Kochi crash

After the court’s order, Jayalakshmi, the deceased's niece, told reporters: “The accused judge is trying all the tricks to get himself relieved from the case. We are disappointed and we have not got justice.”

The accused judge was questioned for several hours on Wednesday and Thursday at the Police Club in Aluva. The police have moved a special court seeking cancellation of the minor’s bail. The case is currently being probed by the Ernakulam district crime branch wing of the police.