Kochi: The Kerala High Court has held that it was high time the government took concrete action in crime investigation and maintenance of law and order. The court observed that investigation of serious crimes entrusted to unskilled and amenable police officers, who can be influenced, will do great disservice to the citizens. “Genuine, committed and timely action on the part of the investigating officer would have earned much more credibility to the police force and it would have been easy to gather reliable evidence without much effort," the court held. It criticised the local police in the investigation of a murder case at Nelliyampathy.
The judgment stated that despite giving definite directions on various matters for improving the law and order situation, crime investigation and efficiency of police force, sadly no change could be seen in crime investigation which continues to be in the same pathetic and disgusting condition. The High Court reminded the police that the responsibility of police would not end by the submission of a final report. The court issued the order on an appeal filed by Azeez of Kaladi, Ernakulam, challenging the sentence awarded by the trial court in the case. Counsel for the petitioners submitted that the trial court unduly relied on the uncorroborated testimony of the approver to find that the accused persons are guilty of the crime.
Insofar as the overt acts of murdering Chandran and Thankamani are concerned, the approver is the only eyewitness and he was admittedly a person having a direct involvement in the offences. It is his definite testimony that he fired the gun at Chandran under duress and threat exerted by the seventh accused. The established facts in the case unravel a saga tending to destroy the credibility of the investigative machinery by delaying investigation and distorting evidence on unjustifiable reasons. Only on account of the best efforts by Mathew Poly, the then DySP, CBCID, Palakkad, who took over the probe from the local police, the truth of a gruesome double murder could be brought to light, the court observed.
