'Trial can be shifted only if speedy disposal is possible': Kerela High Court

KOCHI: Trial of a criminal case can be allowed to be transferred from one court to another to suit the convenience of the parties only if it ensures a smooth and speedy trial, the Kerala high court has held.

The ruling was issued by Justice P Ubaid while considering a petition filed by A M M Basheer of Priyadarshini Road in Palakkad seeking transfer of a case involving him from a Thrissur court to one at Palakkad citing convenience of the accused and the witnesses.

Basheer, who is a contractor, was accused of forgery and cheating for allegedly producing fake post office passbooks before the superintending engineer of national highway central circle at Thrissur to prove his solvency. After investigation, police had submitted final report in the case before the Thrissur chief judicial magistrate (CJM).

In a petition filed through advocate M Shaju Purushothaman in the high court, Basheer sought a direction to transfer the case from Thrissur CJM to Palakkad judicial first class magistrate court - III on the ground of convenience of the accused and the witnesses. To buttress the demand, the petitioner's counsel placed reliance on a 2012 decision of the Supreme Court - in the case of Mrudul M Damle vs Central Bureau of Investigation. The apex court in that case had held that transfer of criminal cases can be ordered on the ground of convenience of the parties, including witnesses, if it ensures a fair and speedy trial.

Declining the plea for transfer, the high court held, "Of course, general convenience of parties can be a ground to transfer a prosecution from one court to another. But general convenience of parties is not the general rule. Such a course can be adopted only if that will ensure a fair and speedy trial. Of course, it is true that some of the witnesses in the case are from Palakkad. But this court finds that if the case is now transferred to the court at Palakkad, trial of the case will definitely be prolonged for years because the court of judicial first class magistrate - III, Palakkad, is a heavy court, where so many cases are pending. If the case is now transferred from Thrissur to Palakkad, the case will take its usual course to reach the stage of trial. There is no doubt that such a transfer will obstruct a smooth and speedy trial."

To reach the Thrissur court, the accused would have to travel around 75 km. But such travel cannot be said to be a cause of prejudice or hardship to the accused or the witnesses, the court said.