MADURAI: Dissatisfied with the trials conducted in two criminal cases, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Friday ordered a joint retrial into the cases as both were interconnected and involved the same accused. The first case pertained to the murder of a sub-inspector, and the other involved an attack made on a head constable sometime before the assault on the sub-inspector.
According to the prosecution, both incidents took place on April 28, 2006, in the same area in Ramanathapuram. Head constable Bose was assaulted by a gang near Nanthicheri bus stop, and a police team was dispatched to the spot. However, upon arriving at the bus stop, the team found SI Subramanian lying injured. While Bose survived, Subramanian succumbed to his injuries.
The prosecution claimed that the same group of accused were responsible for both the attacks. However, separate trials were conducted in the two cases and judgments were passed in 2020. A Bench comprising Justices R Subramanian and N Sathish Kumar noted that there were some technical defects in the trial conducted by the lower court in both cases. Noting that such defects could have been avoided if a joint trial was conducted in the first place, the judges remitted the cases back to the trial court for conducting a joint retrial within three months.
“Fair trial means a fair trial not only to the accused persons but also to the victims and the society at large,” the court added and permitted the accused to seek bail from the trial court.