“No one will have the patience to peruse the records of the trial court to ascertain who was actually responsible for the delay,” the judges say.
“No one will have the patience to peruse the records of the trial court to ascertain who was actually responsible for the delay,” the judges say.
Highlighting how the 13 accused in the 2019 sensational Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) functionary Ramalingam murder case were prolonging the trial by using every trick in the book, the Madras High Court has lamented that they would be jailed for years. The blame for always keeping prisoners together in the U.S. went to the criminal justice delivery system.
Dismissing the appeals of 10 of the 13 accused, a division bench of Justice PN Prakash and Justice RMT Tika Raman wrote, “One has the patience to peruse the records of the trial court to ascertain who was actually responsible for the delay.” Won’t pass.” Bail by a special court for National Investigation Agency (NIA) cases.
The Bench noted that the deceased V. Ramalingam of Tirubuvanam in Thanjavur district was in the business of hiring ships for marriages and other functions. According to the prosecution, he and his son R. Shyam Sundar saw a group of Muslim men converting Hindus on February 5, 2019.
Ramalingam protested and so the same day around 11 pm, a gang cut him up in front of his son and fled in a car. Initially, Tiruvidaimaruthur police registered a case of attempt to murder and converted it into a case of murder after the death of the victim. Considering the gravity of the crime, the Center ordered an NIA probe in March 2019.
The NIA arrested 12 Muslim men – Mohd Asaruddin, Mohd Rias, Nizam Ali, Sarbudin, Mohd Rizwan, Mohd Tawfiq, Mohd Farvees, Tauheet Bacha, Mohd Ibrahim, Mohd Hasan Quthus, Mohd Farooq and Maideen Ahmed Shali – and filed Against him on 2 August 2019.
He also named six others – Rehman Sadiq, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Abdul Majith, Bhurkhanuddin, Shahul Hameed and Nafeel Hasan – as absconding accused and separated his case from the main case. Subsequently, in August 2021, Rehman Sadiq alone was secured, and he was also asked to stand trial along with 12 other accused.
Meanwhile, the 12 accused continued to file petitions before the special court as well as the high court, seeking relief on various grounds. The result was that though the eyewitness Shyam Sundar was primarily examined by the prosecution on February 23 this year, he was not cross-examined by the defense till date.
Similarly, R Chitra, the wife of the deceased, was primarily questioned on February 25, but she too was not cross-examined as the defense counsel has cited two protected witnesses (whose names and addresses will not be disclosed). The investigation was done in court.
Not only this, even two protected witnesses have not been examined till date due to some objections raised by the defense counsel. Finding it difficult to fathom the path taken by the defence, the bench wrote, “If the trial is to proceed like this, we fear that it will not see the light of day for another decade to come.”
Referring to the Supreme Court’s order that cross-examination of witnesses should mainly be done immediately after examination, the judges said, in the present case the entire testimony of these two important witnesses would become useless if they were accompanied before cross-examination. Something untoward happened. ,
“We are constrained to register our fears, as the whole world witnessed a Sessions Judge dealing with the cases of the mining mafia in the State of Jharkhand while he was on his morning walk,” Justice Prakash wrote while pronouncing the judgment. . Division Bench.
While denying bail to the accused, the bench directed the special court to complete the examination of the two main witnesses as well as the two protected witnesses at the earliest.