MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court directed the state government to pay `3.5 lakh as compensation to a man who was illegally detained in prison for over eight months, despite being acquitted by the HC.
Passing orders on a petition filed by R Rathinam, whose son Chokkar was the detainee, Justice Sunder Mohan also sought a status report from the state government on the steps taken to implement the directions issued by the court last year to install user-friendly kiosk machines in all prisons, through which prisoners could check the details or status of their cases. At present, the machine is available at Puzhal Prison II alone, and displays information only in Hindi and English, and not in Tamil.
According to Justice Mohan’s order, Chokkar had been sentenced to life imprisonment for a murder that took place in 2011. But, following an appeal filed by his co-accused, he was later acquitted on October 31, 2019. However, the prison authorities released him only on July 14, 2020.
Holding that Chokkar’s detention was illegal, Justice Mohan directed the government to pay `3.5 lakh as compensation, adding that this order will not prevent Chokkar from filing appropriate proceedings for more damages.
Justice Mohan also noted that to prevent such incidents in future, the court had issued directions last year, including installation of user-friendly kiosks in prisons within four months. But when the case was heard on Friday, the direction was still not complied with. The judge, therefore, directed the government to file a status report and adjourned the case to January 30.