MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the CB-CID to complete investigation into the alleged custodial death of 26-year-old R Aakash in Manamadurai on March 8, as expeditiously as possible.
Justice L Victoria Gowri gave the direction while disposing of a petition filed by Aakash's father A Rajesh Kannan seeking a series of directions, including CB-CID probe, Rs 50 lakh compensation, preservation of CCTV footage recorded in the police station, and proper postmortem examination as per guidelines, among others.
Noting that most of the relief sought for has been already fulfilled, the judge disposed of the petition. However, she appreciated the Manamadurai Judicial Magistrate M Afzal Fathima for the manner in which she discharged her duties while considering the remand of Aakash on March 7. The judge noted that the magistrate had personally visited the Government Medical College Hospital, Sivaganga, and interacted with Aakash and recorded his allegations of custodial torture in her remand report, instead of mechanically authorizing judicial custody.
"Judicial sensitivity at the remand stage often becomes the most effective institutional safeguard against abuse of custodial power," she observed.
The above remand report assumes immense evidentiary significance, not because it establishes guilt against any individual, but because it constitutes a contemporaneous judicial record made at a point of time when the injured accused was alive, under treatment and available for direct interaction with a judicial officer, the judge opined, adding that such records form an important part of the truth-seeking process in all allegations involving custodial violence.
"The constitutional promise under Article 21 does not end at the gates of a police station. Every person, irrespective of the allegations against him, retains his fundamental right to life, dignity and bodily integrity," she said .
Further noting that the state has already initiated measures towards digitisation, standardisation and scientific documentation of medico-legal examinations and post-mortem procedures, the judge opined that such efforts deserve to be strengthened and implemented in their true spirit.
It may be noted that though it has been three months since his death, Aakash's family members are yet to receive his body, which still lies in the mortuary of Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai.