CHENNAI: Grilling the TN government on the investigation into the rape of a student on the Anna University campus, the Madras High Court on Friday directed the state and the university to file reports on the probe and safety arrangements at the institution.
Lauding the survivor for coming forward to lodge the complaint, the bench said it is the duty of every citizen to protect her and stated that women’s liberty to move freely cannot be restricted.
A vacation bench comprising Justices SM Subramaniam and V Lakshminarayanan took up suo motu cognisance of the matter earlier in the day, following requests made by some advocates, including V Jayaprakash Narayanan, who submitted a letter addressed to the court by advocate R Varalakshmi.
Accused has no connection with ruling party, govt tells court
The bench directed the home secretary, the Director General of Police (DGP) and the Anna University to file reports on the incident by noon. However, when the court re-assembled for the post-lunch session, the judges said they would take up the matter for hearing after getting the nod of the Chief Justice as the matter had been placed before him.
In the meantime, Varalakshmi filed a public interest litigation (PIL) on the matter and advocate A Mohanadas moved a petition to implead himself in the case.
The bench took the PIL up for urgent hearing in the evening. Jayaprakash Narayanan and GS Mani, appearing for them, submitted that the accused Gnanasekaran is an influential person and had connections to the ruling DMK, and hence, the court shall constitute a special investigation team to probe the case under the monitoring of a sitting or retired woman judge of the court. They said details of the FIR had been leaked, revealing the identity of the victim, and wanted action against the officers responsible. The counsels also sought the court to order a CBI probe.
Pointing to the statement of the Greater Chennai Commissioner of Police that Gnanasekaran is the only accused in the case, the counsels urged the court to ensure all alleged culprits behind the crime are booked. Advocate General PS Raman denied allegations that the accused belonged to the ruling party. “The accused has no connections with the ruling party,” he told the court, adding that the FIR was not leaked by the police. He noted that police have acted in a swift manner to nab the accused.
The bench questioned how the CoP had arrived at the conclusion that only one person was behind the crime when the matter is still under investigation. It also wondered why one of the legs of the accused was bandaged. Additional Advocate General (AAG) P Kumaresan, representing the police, said the victim had mentioned only one person in her complaint and the accused suffered an injury when he tried to escape from the cops.
The bench directed the state to file a detailed report on the matter and wanted the Anna University to submit a report on the measures taken to ensure the safety of women students, whether the Nirbhaya Fund was fully utilised and the number of sexual harassment and assault complaints received by the internal complaints committee. The bench posted the matters for hearing on Saturday.at their home.
Safety audits ordered at all institutions
Chennai: In the aftermath of the sexual assault incident at AU, the higher education department has directed authorities to conduct a safety audit at all educational institutions