Kochi: Kerala High Court on Friday flayed the state police in the Hyzel Stewert unnatural death case for not investigating whether the case was a murder or not.

Justice Kemal Pasha quashed the final report filed by the police and asked the Crime Branch SP to conduct a thorough probe covering all aspects within three months.
Hyzel Stewert was found dead in suspicious circumstances on July 6, 2012 at her husband’s house in Vzhinjam, Thiruvananthapuram.

“From the beginning itself, there was a lethargic attitude in conducting the investigation,” the court observed.

After going through the post-mortem report, the court observed, “it can be seen that not even an inch of space in her body is free from injuries. Injuries all over the body indicate that she was severely beaten up.

Can it be believed that a person who has sustained much of ante-mortem injuries climbed over something in order to reach the fan on the roof and to commit suicide?”

“If the victim had hanged herself, why the accused had concealed the said fact? Can it not be a case wherein the deceased was hanged by the accused thinking that she was dead on the infliction of such severe injuries all over her body? It seems that the investigating officer has not even thought of any such possibilities. The whole investigation is shabby,” the court observed.

The court also observed that in a case where unnatural death happened within seven years of the marriage, it would attract S 304 IPC (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder).

The High Court had made Jose Lopez, husband of Hyzel, and Vareeta, Prafine, Sahlon and Mini, his relatives, as additional respondents in the case.
FIR on sexual assault case quashed

Kochi: Kerala High Court on Friday quashed the FIR registered against the Director of Technical Education, Senior Joint Director of Technical Education and Regional Director of Technical Education on an alleged sexual assault on a girl student by a staff member in the Government Technical High School, Manathavady.

Justice Kemal Pasha quashed the case registered against them and said the Child Welfare Committee had no power to issue an order to the police to register a case. Pursuant to the CWC order, the police had registered a crime against the petitioners.
Court flays govt on super-class routes issue

Kochi: Kerala High Court on Friday criticised the state for favouring private bus operators in the super-class routes issue. The situation created by the government benefits the private sector because of the Sabarimala season, it said.

The court observed that private bus operators would only benefit from the decision to issue temporary permits of super-class, super-fast and fast passengers.

Taking such a decision during Sabarimala season will help the private operators to ‘make hay while the sun shines,’ the court observed.

A division bench comprising Justice Thottathil B.Radhakrishnan and Justice Babu Mathew P.Joseph had earlier asked the state government to consider withdrawing the instructions to issue temporary permits of super-class, super-fast, fast passenger and super-express to private bus operators on nationalised routes if the KSRTC could operate such bus services by November15, 2014.

The state informed the High Court that the KSRTC had not placed its views in the matter yet. However, the KSRTC claimed that it had submitted before the government that it would make operation requirements.

The court said that the attempt of the government appeared to be to deflect the course of justice and to over-reach the directives in its earlier judgments.