Why Kerala High Court allowed change of courtroom for MLA's trial

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday ordered that the trial in a cheating case against Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Mani C Kappan be moved to a different courtroom for the convenience of his counsel, Senior Advocate B Raman Pillai. [Mani C Kappan v. State of Kerala & Ors.].Justice C Jayachandran issued the directions on being informed that the current courtroom is on the first floor of a building without an elevator making it inaccessible for the ailing senior counsel. The Court said that nothing stands in its way to order this change in premises considering these circumstances."It is a matter within the administrative realm of the High Court and this Court in exercise of its powers under Article 227 can give appropriate directions and instructions to the administrative side of the High Court", the Court said in its judgment. However, it was made clear that the change in courtroom would be only for a single day to complete the cross-examination of just one witness. "Every endeavor should be made to ensure that maximum time is allowed to the learned Senior to cross-examine PW1 by limiting the roll call, in view of the direction contained in this judgment that the same shall be finished on 06.09.2024 itself. If for any reason, the crossexamination of PW1 could not be finished on 06.09.2024, no further facility can be afforded to the learned Senior and further proceedings, including cross-examination of PW1, will be conducted in the regular court hall of the Special Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate", the Court said. .The judgment was passed on a petition moved by Kappan who is facing trial before the Special Court in Ernakulam which hears criminal cases against MP/MLAs. The case stems from a private complaint filed against him alleging offences related to cheating punishable under the Indian Penal Code. The Special Court currently sits on the first floor of a building which has no elevators. Kappan claimed that his counsel in the case, Pillai, is unable to climb stairs and requested that the hearing be conducted in a courtroom that would be accessible for the Senior Advocate. It was submitted that this facility is required only for the cross-examination of one prosecution witness and not for any other proceedings. The private complainant strongly opposed this request contending that it is nothing but a delaying tactic.The complainant added that Kappan had filed several other petitions before the High Court to delay the trial since it began in 2019. It was also argued that the senior counsel's refusal to conduct the cross examination via video conference violates Article 530 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita which provides for conducting trials online. .However, the Court noted that the petition doesn't state that Pillai is unwilling to conduct the cross-examination online.It only says that it would be beneficial and more effective to conduct cross-examination physically and this does not violate the enabling provision of BNSS, the Court said. Since the request was only for cross examining a single witness, the Court deemed it fit to allow Kappan's request with the condition that the cross examination be completed on the scheduled date itself, that is September 6..Kappan was represented before the High Court by advocates S Rajeev, V Vinay, MS Aneer, Sarath KP, Perith Philip Joseph, Anilkumar CR and KS Kiran Krishnan. The private complainant was represented by advocate V Sethunath.The Registrar (District Judiciary) was represented by standing counsel Aneesh James.Senior Public Prosecutor Rekha S and Special Public Prosecutor (Vigilance) Rajesh A appeared for the State. .[Read Judgment]