Kochi, Oct 28: The Additional District Judge who has been named as an accused in the Cheranalloor Mercedes hit-and-run case was questioned by the police for about three hours on Wednesday, IANS reported. The judge was summoned to the Aluva Police Club at around 2:40 p.m., was allowed to leave after the questioning, and has been asked to appear again on Thursday, the report said.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

Separately, the Kerala High Court's Administrative Committee — comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and the five senior-most judges — met on Tuesday and decided to take no action against the judge at present, choosing instead to await further material from the police investigation, Bar and Bench reported. The children of the man killed in the crash had submitted a complaint to the Chief Justice, the report said.

Source: Bar and Bench

The case relates to the crash in the early hours of October 25 on Container Road at Cheranalloor in Kochi, in which Jayabalakrishnan, 55, a roadside eatery owner riding a scooter, was killed after being hit by a Mercedes-Benz car. Police allege the car was being driven by the judge's 17-year-old son; the minor cannot be named or identified under law. The judge, who is the car's registered owner and serves as a Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal judge at Irinjalakuda, was arraigned under Section 199A of the Motor Vehicles Act, and the case against the minor was later altered to Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (culpable homicide). The allegations are under investigation and have not been proved.

The case has already seen a Crime Branch probe, the suspension of police personnel and a sessions court refusing bail to the minor, as reported in Awaaz Punjab's earlier coverage. Read the earlier report