CHENNAI: A division bench of the Madras High Court has rejected a habeas corpus plea seeking the release of Thirumurugan Gandhi of May 17 Movement. Holding that petition filed by the detenu’s father S Gandhi, was not maintainable, a bench of Justices CT Selvam and M Nirmal Kumar dismissed it.
The bench, however, directed the petitioner to approach the trial court. The petition sought to quash proceedings pending against Gandhi before the XVIII Metropolitan Magistrate at Saidapet and consequently direct the authorities concerned to set him at liberty. While Thirumurugan Gandhi was coming out of city police commissionerate on August 10, Royapettah police inspector arrested him in connection with a case registered on September 21, 2017, for offences under various provisions of IPC.
The charge against him was that he, along with his followers, had shouted slogans against police and government on September 20, 2017. He was produced before the XVIII Metropolitan Magistrate who remanded him to custody. Hence, the present petition.
In view of the statement of the magistrate while remanding Gandhi till August 24 and on the well-accepted principle that a writ of habeas corpus is not to be entertained when a person is committed to judicial or police custody by the competent court by an order which prima facie does not appear to be without jurisdiction or passed in a mechanical manner or wholly illegal, the judges said they found the petition was liable to be dismissed.
The bench, however, said the petitioner is free to make an application for bail to the court concerned, which should consider the same no sooner the same is filed and pass appropriate order. “We, without hesitation, would state that there probably would be no better case for grant of bail, however, bound as we are by the legal principles enshrined by the Supreme Court and on the above discussion we dismiss the present habeas corpus petition as not maintainable,” the court said.