State of Kerala Police vs Santhosh — 100717/2019

JudgementView PDF

Case Summary: State of Kerala Police v. Santhosh (S.C No. 717/2019) The court acquitted Santhosh of charges under Section 55(a) of the Abkari Act (illicit liquor sales) due to critical prosecutorial failures. Police had allegedly seized 30 IMFL bottles from the accused in July 2018, but the prosecution failed to produce either the seized contraband or certified inventory/photographs as required by law, and key investigating officers did not testify despite repeated opportunities. The two independent witnesses examined by the prosecution denied witnessing the alleged detection and seizure, rendering their evidence unhelpful. The court found the prosecution had not followed proper procedural safeguards established in *Vijayan v. State of Kerala* and applied the acquittal provision under Section 232 CrPC, finding insufficient cogent evidence to establish guilt. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.

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First hearing

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Case filed

Registration No. 100717/2019