The Kerala High Court on Monday set aside the conviction of former Forest Minister Dr. A. Neelalohithadasan Nadar in a decades- old molestation case involving a senior forest officer. Justice Kauser Edappagath, delivering judgment on September 15, 2025, acquitted the ex- minister by extending him the benefit of doubt, observing that the prosecution’s evidence did not withstand strict legal scrutiny.
Background
The case dates back to February 27, 1999, when the complainant, then a Divisional Forest Officer in Kozhikode, alleged that Nadar had outraged her modesty at the Government Guest House. A trial court in 2004 convicted him under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code, sentencing him to one year of simple imprisonment. On appeal, the sessions court upheld the conviction but reduced the sentence to three months.
The former minister challenged both findings in a criminal revision petition before the High Court. His lawyers argued that the case was fabricated by ''forest mafia'' elements, pointing to contradictions in the complainant’s testimony, delay in filing the complaint, and reliance on hearsay witnesses.
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Court's Observations
Justice Edappagath noted that while courts can convict solely on a victim's testimony, such evidence must be of ''sterling quality'' - consistent, reliable, and free from major contradictions.
''The question is whether her testimony, that the petitioner grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him, can be relied upon to establish guilt,'' the bench observed.
The court found gaps and inconsistencies in the complainant's version. She first lodged a formal complaint more than two years after the alleged incident, long after the minister had resigned. Though she claimed to have informed her mother and friend the same day, this was not mentioned in her earlier statements or in the written complaint. Senior officers she said she had confided in also did not support her version in court.
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The judgment also flagged mistaken identity issues, noting that one person whom she claimed to have met in the room was later proven not to be present in Kozhikode that day.
''Her version has been consistently refined and improved,'' Justice Edappagath remarked, concluding that it could not qualify as evidence of a 'wholly reliable' witness.
Decision
Finding that both the trial court and the sessions court had erred in relying on inadmissible or inconsistent evidence, the High Court quashed the conviction. Dr. Nadar was acquitted of the charge under Section 354 IPC.
''At any rate, it is a fit case where the benefit of doubt ought to have been extended to the petitioner,'' the judge ruled.
With this order, the ex- minister walks free after over two decades of legal battle, while the court made clear that the prosecution had failed to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Case Tittle : Dr. A. Neelalohithadasan Nadar vs State of Kerala
Case Number : Criminal Revision Petition No. 1449 of 2004
