State of Kerala Excise vs Santhosh kumar — 101398/2019

JudgementView PDF

Case Summary: State of Kerala Excise v. Santhosh Kumar (S.C. 1398/2019) Santhosh Kumar was acquitted of charges under Section 55(a)(i) of the Abkari Act for allegedly possessing 53.5 liters of IMFL for illicit sale. The court found critical procedural failures: the independent witness denied witnessing the search and seizure, the prosecution failed to produce the seized contraband or certified inventory as required, and the chain of custody was not properly established per High Court guidelines in *Vijayan v. State of Kerala*. Key officials (thondy clerk, sample transport officer) were never examined, and the forwarding note lacked officer details. The court held that without proper chain of custody procedures and physical production of contraband, the chemical examination report could not be relied upon, rendering the prosecution case insufficient to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.

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Defence Evidence

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for evidence.

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Hearing on Charge

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Adjourned

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First hearing

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Case filed

Registration No. 101398/2019