CHENNAI: The Madras HC on Monday advised the district judiciary to verify the facts of a case thoroughly before granting bail to accused persons. Justice P Velmurugan gave the advice when principal sessions and district judge of Kallakurichi Irusan Poonguzhali appeared before the court on Monday to explain the reason for granting anticipatory bail to accused persons in an attempt to murder case.
Hearing a petition filed by S Lakshmi Bala of Villupuram seeking transfer of the probe into the case from the local police station to some other investigative agency, Justice Velmurugan, last Thursday, had asked the judge to appear before the court. During the hearing on Monday, the judge also lamented the appointment of political party workers who lose civic body polls as prosecutors if they possess a law degree.
The petitioner, Lakshmi Bala, had alleged that the president of S Sellampattu village panchayat, her husband and some other persons had barged into her house and attacked her and her son in an attempt to grab her land. She suffered injuries and was under treatment at a local hospital. Alleging slackness on the part of the Sankarapuram police, she filed the petition in the HC seeking transfer of the probe.
In previous hearings, her counsel told the court that the accused were granted anticipatory bail by the principal sessions and district court even before the petitioner was discharged from the hospital. However, the prosecution told the HC that the anticipatory bail was granted as the public prosecutor had told the sessions court that the victim was discharged.
Subsequently, Justice Velmurugan summoned the Director of Prosecution to provide an explanation. He appeared and submitted that the prosecutor had made the submission in the principal sessions court based on the statement furnished to him by the investigating officer. Following this, the judge directed the district judge to appear in the court.
On Monday district judge Irusan Poonguzhali appeared before the HC and explained that the prosecutor and the investigating officer made oral submissions that the victim was discharged from the hospital, and so, the accused were granted bail. Justice Velmurugan questioned her why bail was given without verifying the records such as discharge summary and issued the advice for verifying the facts before granting relief in future.