Fake Antiquities Case: Kerala HC Lets Suspended IG Gugulloth Lakshman Withdraw Quashing Plea But Disbelieves His Counsel Acted Without Instructions

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday permitted Gugulloth Lakshman, Inspector General of Kerala Police (now suspended), to withdraw his plea seeking to quash the case registered against him for his alleged involvement in Monson Mavunkal cheating case.

However, Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan asked him to pay Rs. 10,000 as cost and disbelieved the suspended IG's claim that his counsel had moved the plea without instructions.

"There is a presumption that a lawyer prepared a brief and field before this Court. The averments in the brief is as instructed by his client. Absolutely no evidence is produced before this court to show that lawyer filed this Crl. M.C. without getting instructions from the petitioner. Now this petitioner is blaming the lawyer saying that it was filed without his instruction. The petitioner is an IG of police and he is not an ordinary person... But, he has not filed any complaint before the Bar Council against the counsel for making such a serious allegation in a Crl. M.C. Case. That itself shows that what the petitioner has stated in the affidavit itself is not correct," the bench said.

A case was registered against Mavunkal on September 23, 2021, on the complaint of certain persons alleging cheating of Rs. 10 Crores on the false promise to return the amount. IG Lakshman was also booked under Sections 468 ('Forgery for purpose of cheating'), 471 ('Using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), 420 ('Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), and 120B ('Punishment of criminal conspiracy'), read with Section 34 IPC.

His quashing plea initially filed through Advocate Noble Mathew averred that the 'uncontroverted allegations in the FIR' did not constitute any offence against Lakshman, and that neither the statement of the witnesses nor the investigation conducted by the Special Investigation Team had yielded any evidence against the petitioner at the time.

However, in a curious turn of events, Advocate Mathew relinquished his Vakalath, and the IG filed an affidavit through a different counsel stating that Advocate Mathew had moved the quashing petition without his instruction.

The High Court permitted the IG to withdraw the plea but imposed cost of Rs. 10,000/- to be paid to the High Court Legal Services Authority within a month.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Ker) 534

Case Title: Gugulloth Lakshman IPS v. State of Kerala & Anr.

Case Number: Crl. M.C. 5879 of 2023