The Hindu : Kerala News : Nalini Netto case: court sets aside magistrate's order

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 15, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Nalini Netto case: court sets aside magistrate's order

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, DEC. 14. The Kerala High Court today set aside an order of the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court III, Thiruvananthapuram, appointing an advocate commission to examine a witnesses now residing abroad in the case relating to the sexual harassment of the IAS officer, Nalini Netto.

Justice K. Padmanabhan Nair also quashed the magistrate's order directing former Transport Minister A. Neelalohithadasan Nadar to deposit Rs. 1.20 lakhs towards expenses of the Commissioner for going abroad to examine the witness.

The Judge passed the order while allowing a petition filed by Mr. Nadar challenging the magistrate's order.

The court directed the magistrate court to issue summons to the witness, Shaik Ahammed, a former assistant private secretary of Mr. Nadar and now employed in the Sultanate of Oman by a registered post. The witnesses should be asked whether he was willing to cooperate with the proceedings and prepared to come down to Thiruvananthapuram. If he had no plan to visit the State, he should state whether he was ready to have an examination thorough video-conferencing. The court ordered that the witness be given 15 days time to reply to the summons.

Mr. Nadar contended that the magistrate had no power to issue such an order.

Waste management

A Bench comprising the Chief Justice, B.Subhashan Reddy and Justice Kurian Joseph, expressed the hope that the local area committees constituted by the State Pollution Control Board would take steps for implementing the Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989. The court made the observation while disposing of a writ petition filed by the Kochi-based Institute of Social Welfare. The petition alleged that 23 companies were not treating waste oil in accordance with the rule and they did not have the proper authorisation.

Notary

The Bench also upheld the verdict of a single judge setting aside the circular of the Law Secretary preventing the Notaries from attesting documents brought by person from outside the area of practice of a notary.

The single judge had held that the Notaries Act did not impose any restriction on the right of a person in taking the service of notary of his own choice. Clients were free to go to any place of their convenience and the restriction imposed by the State Government that a notary appointed in a place should render service only to clients residing in the area allotted to him was not authorised by the statute.

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