Kochi Benz crash: ‘He is a judicial officer, will cooperate with probe’: HC prevents arrest of Judge

Kochi: The High Court has prevented the arrest of the Additional Sessions Judge, whose 17-year-old son drove the car involved in the Cheranalloor accident. Observing that the judge is cooperating with the police investigation and questioning, the court asked what the necessity was to arrest him under these circumstances.

The High Court posed these crucial questions on Thursday morning while considering the judge's bail application. Justice Kauser Edappagath heard the petition. The court remarked that the applicant is a serving judicial officer who is unlikely to evade legal proceedings.

Following this, the court ordered that the applicant must not be arrested by the police until further orders are issued.

“Why was it necessary to question him for four hours? What is the need to question him again now? Why is there a need to arrest him? He is a judicial officer. He will cooperate with the investigation,” Justice Edappagath stated.

The court, however, directed the judge to appear before the investigating officer at 1 pm on Thursday, and to appear again whenever summoned in the future if required. The court also clarified that the questioning of the applicant must strictly adhere to the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the victim’s family strongly opposed the judge’s bail plea, demanding strict legal accountability. Jayabalakrishnan’s relatives had previously met High Court Registrar General G Gopakumar to formally request stringent action against the officer.

Senior Advocate P Vijayabhanu appeared on behalf of the judge.