Justice G. Ilangovan of the Madras High Court (Madurai Bench) on Monday recused himself from hearing the batch of bail petitions filed by those involved in the attack on the Income Tax (I-T) Officials who searched properties of persons linked to Minister V. Senthilbalaji in Karur in May.
Justice Ilangovan had earlier set aside the bail granted to those involved in the attack while hearing a batch of petitions filed by the I-T officials who faced hostilities from alleged supporters of Mr. Senthilbalaji during the searches.
The officials had sought the cancellation of the bail granted to their attackers by the Judicial Magistrate-I, Karur. The judge had directed the bail applications to be restored and remitted to the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Karur. Pursuant to the High Court direction, the Chief Judicial Magistrate heard the bail petitions and dismissed them.
The petitioners said the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Karur, had also dismissed their bail petitions. Therefore, they filed the bail petition before the High Court. Justice Ilangovan observed that he had made certain observations in the earlier order on the petitions seeking the cancellation of bail. Therefore, it would be better to place the bail petitions before another Bench of the High Court.
