MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday granted bail to two men, who were arrested by the Sivaganga police for allegedly selling banned tobacco products to school students, after they offered to build a toilet in a government school in the district free of cost.
The petitioners, Malairaj and Subbaiya alias Francis, had approached the high court seeking bail in the aforesaid case. The additional public prosecutor objected to their plea stating that the petitioners are repeat offenders. But the petitioners' counsel argued that they were falsely implicated in the case, and had been in judicial custody since December 4, 2023. He further told the court that the duo was willing to construct a toilet for the government higher secondary school in Anumanthakudi.
Considering the period of incarceration and other facts, justice M Dhandapani, who heard the plea, granted bail to the petitioners. Since the petitioners, on their own volition, gave an undertaking to build a toilet for the government school, the judge directed them to construct the toilet within six weeks and send a proof of the same to the judicial magistrate concerned. Further directions were issued to the school headmaster to cooperate with the petitioners, and use the toilet for the benefit of the female students of the school.