Debangana Ray
Published on June 15, 2022 at 20:31 IST
Recently, the Kerala High Court held that a special court formed under the National Investigation Agency has the power to invoke Section 306 and grant pardon to the accused in the post cognizance state.
The Bench comprising of Justices K. Vinod Chandran and C. Jayachandran opined that it is advisable for the special court, if taken direct cognizance, to consider an application for grant of pardon by itself, though it can be referred to the Chief Judicial Magistrate.
The Court further stated that, “The person to whom pardon is to be tendered need not necessarily be an accused; rather it is not a sine qua non. The fact that in many an occasion, pardon is being granted to an accused person, is no indication for a conclusion that such person should always be arraigned as an accused person.”
The above statements were made by the court while dealing with a case involving 6 Srilankan nationals carrying huge quantities of narcotics, AK-47 rifles and ammunition which were then seized by the Narcotics Control Bureau.
The appellant of the present case was found to a member of the LTTE and was arrested. The statements of the accused were recorded u/s 164 of CrPC by the Judicial Magistrate of first class. Later the NIA sought tender of pardon for an accused whose was neither stated as an accused nor a witness in the final report.
The NIA special court took cognizance of the case and allowed NIA’s application. This was challenged by the accused in the High Court.