Kasaragod man impersonates drunk-driving accused in court, LDF advocate-panchayat member in trouble

Kasaragod: Exactly two months after a Thiruvananthapuram court sentenced the LDF government's former Kerala Transport Minister Adv Antony Raju to three years in prison for swapping a blue underwear to protect his Australian client in a drug case, another courtroom drama, this time involving a drunken-driving case, has landed a CPI panchayat member and advocate in trouble in Kasaragod.

In the latest case, a "paid surety", a person who routinely stands as a guarantor in bail cases, impersonated a drunk driving accused during a Lok Adalat at the Hosdurg First Class Judicial Magistrate Court-I on March 3.

According to the FIR and court records, Prabhakaran Vaniyan (50) took the dock, claimed to be Noushad P (43), the actual accused in a drunken-driving case, and pleaded guilty.

JFMC-I Abdul Rasik, hearing the case, sentenced Prabhakaran to simple imprisonment till the court adjourned for the day, and imposed a ₹500 fine.

But the impersonation unravelled minutes later when he was sent to the court office to pay the fine. On seeing Prabhakaran, Junior Superintendent Aneesh K V sensed that something was wrong. "He did not look like Noushad. I had seen him earlier standing surety in another case in the same court," Aneesh told Onmanorama.

"So I asked his father's name. He said Mohammed. Peeru Mohammed was the full name. Then I asked for his Aadhaar. That is when he admitted he was actually Prabhakaran."

Prabhakaran was immediately detained and handed over to the police. Following directions from the Magistrate, Aneesh filed a police complaint. The Hosdurg Police Station registered a case against Prabhakaran for falsely pretending to be another person in a criminal prosecution and for cheating by impersonation. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison.

Advocate and panchayat member
The actual accused in the case is Noushad P, a welder from Njandadi in Kayyur village.

Noushad was represented by Advocate Sunimol A K, who is also a CPI ward member in Kannur's Karivellur-Peralam grama panchayat on the border of Kasaragod. The FIR does not name Sunimol as an accused yet.

When contacted, Sunimol admitted that Noushad was her client. She said she had informed the court that Noushad was absent when the case was called. "I don't know how Prabhakaran took the stand," she said.

She described Prabhakaran as a "paid surety" and suggested he might be mentally unstable. However, she did not explain how Prabhakaran knew about Noushad's drunken-driving case and pleaded guilty to it, given that Noushad lives in Kayyur, nearly 30 km from Kanhangad.

However, according to the e-courts portal, the case was "advanced" to March 3, and the accused was shown as "present."

Court records show that Noushad's case was last heard on February 11 and adjourned to July 27, 2026, because the summons sent to him had not yet been returned to court.

"Only the accused himself or his counsel can request that a case be advanced and mark the accused as present," said Adv Satheesh, treasurer of the Kanhangad Bar Association, who was present in the court that day.

Advocates present in the courtroom said three other accused persons were with Sunimol during the Lok Adalat, but they left the court premises hurriedly after Prabhakaran was caught impersonating Noushad.

Sunimol denied this allegation and said she had several clients that day and had paid fines on behalf of all of them, except Naushad.

The drunken-driving case
Noushad was caught drunk by the Cheemeni Police Station on January 10. He was booked for rash driving and endangering human life, and for driving under the influence of alcohol.

The legal alcohol limit is 30 mg per 100 ml of blood. Noushad's breath-analyser test reportedly showed 158 mg, more than five times the permissible level.

For drunken driving, the law prescribes a fine of ₹10,000 for the first offence and ₹15,000 for a second offence, and/or imprisonment up to six months.

The Lok Adalat
Lok Adalats are held to dispose of civil disputes and certain compoundable offences as part of an effort to reduce the backlog in courts.

The accused in drunken-driving cases typically pays a fine of ₹500 for rash driving, and remains in court custody till the court rises for the day for drunken driving, said Adv P K Satheesh.

This year's first Lok Adalat is scheduled for March 14, but courts begin processing such settlements from March 1 to reduce the rush on that day, he said.

 'I paid ₹11,500 to her'

When contacted, Noushad said he did not know anything about Lok Adalat. "I paid ₹11,500 to my advocate to pay the fine and settle the case," he said. Noushad said he had signed up Adv Sunimol as his counsel because she was his neighbour. "I know her personally."

On February 10, the day before the first hearing, he transferred ₹11,500 to her account via UPI. "If she had told me about the Lok Adalat, I would have gone and stood in court the whole day," he said.

"In the Adalat, I could have paid  ₹500 as an advocate fee and ₹500 fine, and still saved ₹10,000." Instead, he said he was told his presence in court was not required.

Noushad expressed fear about the consequences. "Will I be in trouble? Will they say I sent that impersonator? I don't even know that person. I have never been to a court in my life," he said.

Adv Satheesh said if Noushad was willing to pay the full fine under the Motor Vehicles Act, there was no need to bring the case before the Lok Adalat at all. "He could have simply paid the fine when the case came up in July," he said.

Bar Association members said they are considering reporting this case to the Bar Council of Kerala.