TIRUNELVELI: During the hearing of four custodial torture cases involving former Ambasamudram ASP Balveer Singh on Friday, the counsel for the SC victim — one of nearly 10 persons affected — sought the transfer of one of the cases to the Special Court for SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act cases.
Singh’s counsel appeared on his behalf. The SC victim and his mother were present during the hearing. Henry Tiphagne, the victim’s counsel, argued that the CB-CID had mostly included police personnel from the SC and ST communities in the particular case to show that the provisions of the SC/ST (PoA) Act could not be invoked against them. “Still, there are non-SC accused persons in the case, and the provisions can be invoked,” he said.
Further, Tiphagne pointed out that the CB-CID did not bring high-level inquiry officer Amudha’s interim report to the notice of the Judicial Magistrate Court. “Amudha, after a thorough inquiry, named several police personnel -- from the one who had received a bribe via GPay from the victim’s mother, to the one who had switched off the CCTV camera during the torture -—- in the SC victim’s case. She also named a government doctor for ignoring the victims’ injuries. However, the FIR and charge sheet lack these details,” he argued.
When Judicial Magistrate K Sathya asked why the demand for the case transfer was made after an enormous delay, Tiphagne said, “We are only demanding the transfer of one of the four cases. The SC victim was not given the right to know the case proceedings as per the provisions of the SC/ST (PoA) Act.” The magistrate said that filing petitions like this would delay the trial, adding that he had planned to complete the case in three months. He instructed the CB-CID to bring the witnesses to the next hearing and adjourned the case to November 21, seeking a reply from the accused side.
Tiphagne, also the founder of the human rights organisation People’s Watch, has been offering legal aid to the SC victim since 2023.