The Madras High Court refused a plea from advocate R Sankara Subbu, the counsel for deceased Dalit youth E Ilavarasan, to keep alive the habeas corpus writ petition (HCP)from Thenmozhi, who sought to produce her daughter N Divya in the court and set her at liberty.
In view of the subsequent developments including Ilavarasan’s death, the HCP must be kept alive and adjudicated, Subbu argued.
However, petitioner Thenmozhi sought to dismiss her petition as withdrawn.
A division bench comprising Justices M Jaichandran and M M Sundresh observed that the scope of the HCP was limited. Since Divya, a major, had categorically stated in court that she would like to go with her mother, and Thenmozhi expressed her desire to withdraw the HCP, the claim of the other side could not be considered.
It was not open to this court to pass elaborate or detailed orders in the present HCP. Hence, it would be appropriate to permit the petitioner to withdraw her petition based on the endorsement she had made on July 3 last, the judges dismissed it as withdrawn.
It would be open to the parties concerned to seek their reliefs, if any, before the appropriate authority or forum, if so advised, in the manner known to law, the bench added.