Saiby High Court Lawyer Jose Kidangoor, against whom the police have registered a criminal case following allegations of collecting money on the pretext of bribing High Court judges, on Friday approached the Kerala High Court seeking to quash all further proceedings in the case.
He said in his petition that the allegations against him had no basis either in law or in fact. The crime was registered based on their hearsay. In fact, it was at the time of election to the Kerala High Court Advocates’ Association that a group of three or four lawyers had submitted a false complaint to the Registrar General who had asked the State Police Chief to investigate the matter. However, no concrete evidence was brought out to implicate the petitioner in any offenses during the preliminary investigation.
However, owing to the unwarranted involvement of media persons and a group of lawyers who harbored personal enmity towards him, a crime was registered alleging offenses under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, he alleged. The first information report (FIR) did not contain any evidence to attract sections.
No cognizable evidence had been prima facie made out against the petitioner for investigating the matter. It came under the rarest of the rare case in which the petitioner was falsely implicated by a group of lawyers and the police. If the entire proceedings were allowed to continue, the entire career of the petitioner would be completely spoiled, he added.
The petitioner also sought an interim stay on the proceedings.