MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed inspector generals of police (IGPs) of the south and central zones, to file separate affidavits whether trial in sexual assault cases, in which the accused are detained under Goondas Act, are being deliberately protracted till the end of the detention period and if the investigating officers (IOs) have a role in it.
A bench of justices C V Karthikeyan and R Vijayakumar issued the direction on a habeas corpus petition (HCP) filed by a woman from Tirunelveli challenging the detention of her husband, who was arrested in a Pocso case, under Goondas Act in October last year.
The judges observed that detention orders are passed to ensure that the evidence of the victim and the complainant is recorded within the detention period (one year). But it is found the trial is being dragged on till the end of the detention period defeating the very purpose of passing the detention order, they added.
Further, they suo motu impleaded the IGP south zone, Madurai, and IGP central zone, Tiruchy, in the case and directed them to file separate affidavits on the instructions given to IOs dealing with sexual assault cases involving Goondas detention, before the next hearing on September 25.
The judges added that the IGPs may also take a statistics of such cases and examine the flow of trial in those cases to check whether it is being deliberately protracted and if the same is because the IO was not proactive.
They further directed the presiding officer of the special Pocso court, Tirunelveli, to dispose a connected petition, filed by the petitioner’s husband seeking reinvestigation in the case, on or before September 23.