NEW DELHI: Nearly 24 years ago, Mankunnil Suresh was booked in a fraud case in Kerala. The case, however, is yet to be submitted before a court , denying the now 59-year-old Suresh an opportunity to prove his innocence.
Aggrieved by the non-filing of the charge sheet, Suresh has moved the SC demanding Rs 25 lakh as compensation for the ‘insult’ and ‘agony’ he has suffered. He also wants SC to quash the case so he is able to live with dignity.
The Alapuzha police have neither filed a final probe report in the case nor have they closed it for lack of evidence. Suresh is alleged to have cheated a co-operative society of Rs 3,000. The long-drawn case has taken a toll on Suresh’s professional life and health. “I was defamed for no fault of mine. I had to stay in custody for two extra days because I did not have Rs 20,000 to deposit as bail bond,” Suresh told HT.
He has requested the SC to lay down a law that sets a limitation period for the police to investigate cases. “There is a need of an expiry date for legal proceedings and a legal audit of each file must be made compulsory to strengthen the rule of law and clean the system,” his lawyer Wills Mathews said. A bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi will hear Suresh’s case on Monday.
{{/usCountry}}He has requested the SC to lay down a law that sets a limitation period for the police to investigate cases. “There is a need of an expiry date for legal proceedings and a legal audit of each file must be made compulsory to strengthen the rule of law and clean the system,” his lawyer Wills Mathews said. A bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi will hear Suresh’s case on Monday.
{{/usCountry}}“No purpose will be served in registering an FIR without filing a charge sheet even after 24 years. This not only violates the petitioner’s fundamental rights but also burdens the already overcrowded judicial system,” read Suresh’s petition.