Kerala gold smuggling case: Karnataka High Court quashes FIR, directs magistrate to pass fresh order with reason on Swapna Suresh’s complaint of threat to life
The Hindu
The High Court found that the magistrate erred in permitting the police to investigate the non-cognisable offence under Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) without recording a prima facie reason for granting permission to register a First Information Report (FIR) and investigate the complaint.
The High Court of Karnataka has directed the magistrate court to pass a fresh order on a request by the Bengaluru police to investigate the complaint of threat to life by Swapna Suresh, an accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case, against Vijesh Pillai.
The High Court found that the magistrate erred in permitting the police to investigate the non-cognisable offence under Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) without recording a prima facie reason for granting permission to register a First Information Report (FIR) and investigate the complaint.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the order while quashing the permission granted by the magistrate and the FIR registered by the K.R. Puram police, based on the magistrate’s permission to investigate the complaint by Swapna Suresh in March 2023.
The magistrate has now been directed to pass a fresh order, on a plea by the police seeking permission to investigate the complaint by Swapna Suresh, with proper application of mind as per the general guidelines issued to all magistrates while dealing with non-cognisance offences.
The High Court passed the order on a petition by Vijesh Pillai, who had questioned the legality of permission granted by the magistrate.
Swapna Suresh, in her complaint to the K.R. Puram police, claimed that Vijesh Pillai wanted to interview her. They met in a hotel in Bengaluru in March 2023.
According to the complaint, during the meeting, Vijesh Pillai claimed to have been sent by Kerala CPI(M) State Secretary M.V. Govindan to discuss and settle the part of the involvement of Kerala Chief Minister P. Vijayan and his family in the case. Vijesh Pillai allegedly offered several crores of rupees to Swapna Suresh to leave Bengaluru and not rake up the case.
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