MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday reserved its decision on a revision petition filed by the CBI last year against the lower court’s rejection of the agency’s plea to frame additional charges against the nine accused policemen in Sathankulam custodial death case.
According to the revised petition, the lower court in Madurai had framed various charges against the nine policemen on March 10, 2021, over the alleged custodial death of traders- P Jeyaraj and his son Beniks. But, the charges under Section 120B (Punishment for criminal conspiracy) and a few other IPC sections had been left out, even though sufficient materials were submitted to prove them, it added.
Though the agency had filed an application before the trial court for including additional charges against the accused, the trial court dismissed it on March 24, 2021, on the ground that such a petition is not required as charges could be added or altered at any time before the judgment. To set aside the order, the revision petition was filed by the CBI in June 2021 and has been pending since then.
The petition, however, has been heard extensively by Justice G Ilangovan since last month. The counsel appearing for the CBI pointed out the agency had filed a supplementary charge sheet in the case, along with scientific reports, in August this year. He requested the judge to direct the trial court to reconsider the CBI’s application.
The accused policemen objected to the agency’s plea, saying there is no evidence to support the additional charges and allowing the petition would only delay the trial further. After an elaborate hearing, Justice G Ilangovan reserved his orders. It could be noted that in another petition filed last year by Jeyaraj’s wife Selvarani for expediting the trial, the high court had directed the trial court to complete the trial by the end of December 2022.