Kochi police have named an additional district judge as an accused in a fatal road crash involving his 17-year-old son, who was allegedly driving the judge’s Mercedes-Benz when it hit a scooter on Container Road near Maraparambu in Cheranelloor early Sunday. The collision killed 55-year-old Jayabalakrishnan, a wayside eatery operator from Chittoor, and has now been transferred to the district crime branch.
The crash occurred at about 2.20am when the Mercedes hit the scooter from behind. Kochi city police commissioner Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar said police had invoked provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act concerning the culpability of a parent or guardian when a juvenile commits an offence. The judge is the registered owner of the car.
Police said they had found evidence that the vehicle had travelled at more than 100kmph at some point before the collision. On that basis, investigators added Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, along with charges related to speeding. Kumar said the offence was being treated as serious because the crash killed the breadwinner of a family.
The police initially registered the case under Sections 281 and 106(1) of the BNS, relating to rash driving and causing death by negligence. The early assessment had treated the crash as an accident that occurred during rain. Investigators later examined the juvenile’s mobile phone and other details and concluded that the car had been travelling at high speed before the crash, Kumar said.
The police are still examining CCTV footage, but Kumar said investigators did not yet have direct evidence or eyewitnesses to establish the vehicle’s speed at the exact moment of impact. The crime branch probe is expected to examine the vehicle’s movements, available electronic evidence, CCTV footage and the circumstances in which the minor was allowed to drive.
The victim’s family protested at Cheranelloor police station on Sunday night after the funeral, alleging that the accused had received preferential treatment. The addition of the culpable homicide provision followed those protests, according to the report. Police also invoked Section 199A of the Motor Vehicles Act against the judge. The provision can hold a juvenile’s guardian or vehicle owner liable in specified circumstances when an offence is committed by a minor, including where the vehicle was used with the owner’s consent.
The juvenile was produced before the magistrate in charge of the Juvenile Justice Board and sent home with his parents, as provided under the Juvenile Justice Act, Kumar said. Police are considering whether to appeal against the bail. The commissioner also said the investigation would require permission from the high court for certain procedures. A senior police officer said further action against the judge would follow Supreme Court guidelines applicable when a judge is booked.
The case places three separate responsibilities under scrutiny: the criminal liability arising from the death, the legal protections and procedures applicable to a juvenile, and the obligations of a vehicle owner or guardian. The district crime branch will determine the next steps as investigators complete the evidence review and police consider a bail appeal.
