HC sets aside lower court fiat to envoy

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, JAN. 12. An Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate has no authority to direct a Consulate-General to provide a Document of Identity and as to how he should function, the Madras High Court has said.

Mr. Justice Akbar Basha Khadiri, allowing a revision filed by the Enforcement Directorate, set aside the Magistrate's order giving such a direction to the Consulate-General of Singapore in Chennai.

A money-changer of Chennai was facing trial before the Additional CMM in an economic offence case for the alleged FERA violations involving several crores of rupees. His Singapore passport had been impounded by the Enforcement Directorate. Last year, the accused sought from the trial court a direction to the Singapore authority to issue a `Document of Identity' to him to enable him to make a trip to Singapore, as his mother had died. On this, the Magistrate had said the Singapore Consulate-General was permitted to issue the document valid for three weeks only and the accused should return to India within that time limit and report the same to the CG and the Court.

After hearing a revision petition of the Enforcement Directorate, Mr. Justice Khadiri said he did not think that the Magistrate had any authority to issue such direction the Consulate-General as to how he should function, whether he should give the Document of Identity or not.

The Court could not issue directions to third parties not concerned with the case pending before it. The accused was charged for an offence here and a trial was going on; it might not be expedient to permit him to leave the country at the instance, much less to issue direction to some other authority. The magistrate's order suffered from infirmities and was liable to be set aside.

The High Court also directed the Magistrate to complete the trial within two months.

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Section  : Southern States
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