TIRUNELVELI: The much-awaited trial in the Ambasamudram custodial torture cases began on Monday, but the main accused, former ASP Balveer Singh, failed to appear before the court.
Upset over his absence, judicial magistrate K Sathya came down heavily on Singh’s counsel.
“I had said I would complete the case within three months. Will the IPS officer not appear before the court? Does he alone have duty, not others? If Singh cannot appear, at least file a CrPC Section 317 petition (a request to exempt an accused from personal attendance during trial) so that I can proceed with the hearing,” the magistrate told the counsel before adjourning the case to October 31.
Singh, the then Ambasamudram ASP, is an accused in all four custodial torture cases along with 13 others. Some of the accused were present during Monday’s hearing.
The magistrate had earlier ordered issuance of a summons to the witnesses.
However, the mother of two victims, including a minor boy, told TNIE she had not yet received the summons. Advocates of People’s Watch, SP Madasamy and Pandia Rajan, who accompanied her, said they would file a fresh petition before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court seeking a direction to shift the case to either the Human Rights
Court or the Special Court for SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act cases.