MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday evening said the IV additional district judge of Madurai S John Sundarlal Suresh would conduct an inquiry into the custodial death of Ajithkumar in Sivaganga district, and submit a report by July 8.
The court directed that case files, CCTV footage, available evidence, and other materials be handed over to judge John Sundarlal Suresh on Wednesday.
A division bench of Justices S M Subramaniam and A D Maria Clete gave the direction while transferring the investigation from the judicial magistrate of Thirupuvanam, during a hearing on writ petitions filed by many, including E Marees Kumar of AIADMK advocates wing and human rights activist Henri Tiphagne.
The petitioners contended that Ajithkumar was brutally assaulted with lethal weapons, and chilli powder was seen on his face and private parts. They alleged functionaries of a political party had held talks with Ajithkumar’s family and offered a huge sum of money along with government job for his brother. They submitted that the de facto complainant Nikita was an acquaintance of an IAS officer who asked the SP to take stringent action in the theft case.
The judges directed the state government to initiate appropriate action against all those involved, including higher officials, who are responsible and accountable for their lapses and negligence, and file a report on or before July 8. The state has been told to ensure protection to eyewitnesses.
After perusing the postmortem report, submitted by the dean of Government Rajaji Hospital, Madurai, the court said a plain reading of the nature of injuries inflicted on the deceased revealed he had been brutally attacked.
“The deceased was not even accused in the case, and there were no previous criminal cases or bad antecedents against him,” the judges said.
Further, the judges said material evidence is unsafe in the hands of local police, “who are all directly or indirectly parties to the custodial death”. They made this observation after the executive officer of the Madapuram temple informed the court that police officer Ramachandran had taken the entire CCTV footage, and other items. Additional Advocate General said the evidence has been kept in the special branch (technical wing) in Sivaganga.
During the hearing in the morning, the judges directed the Thirupuvanam Judicial Magistrate, Dean of Government Rajaji Hospital, the Executive Officer of the Madapuram temple, to be present along with Sakthishwaran, who had recorded a video of policemen beating Ajithkumar. The court viewed the clip.
