The society is indebted to the 3 Chief Judicial Magistrates in Sr. Abahaya murder case. The case would never have been proved if not for the fearless position taken by these Magistrates.
The country will never forget Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrates KK Utharan, Antony Moraise and PD Sarangadharan. KK Utharan hit out against the CBI at a time when even the Supreme Court was not willing to criticise the investigation agency.
It was after this that Former Supreme Court Chief Justice SP Bharucha labelled CBI as ‘Central Burial Investigation Agency’ for protecting the accused in a Hawala scam case.
The CBI approached the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in 1996 to close the case by claiming that it was a suicide. However, KK Utharan, who was the Magistrate, stated that he does not trust the CBI investigation and instructed them to probe the case again.
This shocked the CBI as it was the first time in India that a court expressed dissatisfaction with a CBI investigation. This was a time when the public and courts believed that CBI guaranteed an honest investigation.
After a year, CBI approached the court again with the investigation report to close the case.
Antony Moraise was the Chief Judicial Magistrate at that time. He said he was convinced that it was a murder and accused CBI of not having answers to many questions. The court ordered the case to be investigated using modern techniques. This was another huge blow for the investigation agency.
Following this, the CBI changed their position in the case. They admitted that it was a murder but stated that all evidence in the case have been destroyed.
In 2007, PD Sarangadharan was the Chief Judicial Magistrate. However, nothing changed for CBI this time as well. CBI was not able to provide a satisfactory answer to many of the questions asked in the open court. PD Sarangadharan even ordered the CBI DIG from Delhi to appear before his chamber.
Usually Magistrates heed to CBI’s demand to close the investigation of a particular case. If KK Utharan had bowed to the pressure, this case would never have been proved.
KK Utharan retired as Alappuzha district judge 10 years back. He is currently enjoying his retired life in Kadamakkudy island near Kochi. Responding to the verdict, he told Mathrubhumi.com ‘The truth has won, let justice prevail’.
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