Fatal luxury car crash: Keralam judge booked under MV Act as registered owner of vehicle driven by minor son

Forensic officials collecting evidence from the car involved in the fatal accident at Cheranalloor in Kochi on Sunday (October 25, 2026) in which a 55-year-old scooter rider was killed.

The Kochi City police on Monday (October 26, 2026) arraigned as an accused an Additional District Judge who is the father of the 17-year-old boy accused of causing the death of a man after allegedly ramming his luxury car into the victim’s scooter at Cheranalloor in Keralam in the early hours of Sunday.

The judge, who is posted in a court in Irinjalakkuda in Thrissur district, has been booked under Section 199A of the Motor Vehicles Act, which stipulates that where an offence has been committed by a juvenile, the guardian of the juvenile or the owner of the motor vehicle shall be deemed guilty of the contravention and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. He is the registered owner of the car involved in the accident.

“Steps are now being taken in compliance with the Supreme Court guidelines that apply when a judge is booked. We will have to intimate the district judiciary and the High Court,” S. Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar, District Police Chief (Kochi City), told The Hindu.

The victim’s family, along with various political and youth outfits, had been clamouring for a case to be registered against the judge. In the early hours of Monday, the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) granted bail to the teenager citing the absence of any previous criminal antecedents.

The deceased was identified as Jayabalakrishnan, 55, of Chittur, Cheranalloor. He was returning after closing his eatery at Chittur when the accident happened and succumbed to his injuries on the spot. The accident occurred around 2.20 a.m. at Maraparambu on Container Road in Cheranalloor.

According to the FIR, the teenager was travelling alone in the car from Vallarpadam towards Kalamassery when it hit the scooter, which was moving in the same direction.

The boy was initially released on bail from the police station under Section 8 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. A case was registered against the minor under Sections 281 and 106(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), dealing with rash driving and causing death by a rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide. Later in the day, the police added Section 105 of the BNS, which prescribes punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, to the FIR. The section was added amid protests and criticism against the police for releasing the accused on station bail.