'Stab in my chest’: Daughter of Kochi car crash victim on anticipatory bail to judge

The daughter of a 55-year-old street food vendor killed in a Mercedes-Benz accident in Kochi's Cheranalloor has expressed anguish over the Kerala High Court's decision to grant anticipatory bail to the judge whose minor son was allegedly behind the wheels of a car involved in the crash.

Bhadra Keerthi, daughter of street food vendor Jaibalakrishnan, reportedly said the verdict came just a day before the completion of her father's funeral rites, at a time when the family was hoping for some measure of justice.

“This judgment is a stab in my chest,” she told NDTV. The family has now decided to approach the Supreme Court to challenge the High Court's order.

Kerala High Court grants anticipatory bail to judge

The development comes after the Kerala High Court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to the Kochi judge booked under the Motor Vehicles Act after his 17-year-old son allegedly drove a Mercedes-Benz into a scooter, killing 55-year-old Jaibalakrishnan in Kochi.

A single-judge bench of Justice Kauser Edappagath said investigators had already questioned the judicial officer for four hours, and the judge would cooperate with the probe.

“There is no scope for custodial interrogation. Necessarily, he has to be granted protection. He is a judicial officer, and he will cooperate. For four hours, the police had interrogated him," justice Edappagath said.

The interim relief comes a day after the judge, who presides over a Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, was questioned for several hours by Crime Branch officers at the Aluva Police Club. He was asked to appear again for questioning on Thursday.

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The accident took place in the early hours of October 25, killing Jayabalakrishnan, who ran a street food cart in Kochi’s Chittoor neighbourhood.

The teenager was apprehended at the scene and later granted bail by the Juvenile Justice Board. He has been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and rash and negligent driving. On Friday, a special court in Ernakulam will hear a plea to cancel the teenager’s bail.

The judge was named in a case registered under Section 199A of the Motor Vehicles Act, which provides for penal action against a guardian or vehicle owner when an offence is committed by a minor. The provision prescribes imprisonment of up to three years, a ₹25,000 fine and cancellation of the vehicle’s registration for 12 months.

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The provision requires the court to presume that the juvenile used the motor vehicle with the consent of the vehicle owner or the juvenile's guardian.

The state government has acknowledged lapses by the police in its investigation into the fatal crash and suspended four police personnel attached to the Cheranalloor police station.

On Wednesday, the government also removed Kochi City police commissioner Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar and replaced him with R Nishanthini, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer from the 2008 batch.