The Madras High Court on Monday said it was of the “firm opinion” that the violence in Kallakurichi district on Sunday due to the death of a Class XII girl was not due to a sudden provocation, but was the result of a “motivated, planned and calculated” crime.
Justice N. Sathish Kumar expressed deep anguish over the rioters having created an impression of lawlessness in the State, and suspected that there was “some force behind it.” Not convinced with the claim that a peaceful protest turned violent due to provocation, the judge said, “It only appeared to be an organised crime.” Making it clear that the State police should leave no stone unturned in bringing to book those who participated in the riots as well as those who instigated them, the judge said he was shocked to see the violence on TV channels on Sunday. It should not be difficult for the police to identify the rioters using the video footage, he added.
The judge wondered how the rioters could ransack the school building and torch several vehicles when the court was about to hear on Monday a petition filed by the girl’s father, seeking a CB-CID probe and a re-postmortem on her body.
Deciding to monitor the probe into the riot case, the judge directed the Director General of Police to form a special team to bring all the culprits to book. The judge also took note of the fact that whenever a death gets reported in an educational institution, there was a general tendency of indulging in protests and forcing the police to succumb to pressure.
Such pressure leads to unwarranted arrests even without conducting proper investigation, he lamented. “This court is of the firm opinion that in every protest there is some group behind it... Unless such things are curbed and the perpetrators are brought before the court of law, the situation will lead to show as if the State is lawless,” the judge opined.
Therefore, it would be the responsibility of the State Government and police department to restore the glory of the force by identifying the violators, he said. Shocked to learn that not only was the school building ransacked, but also the transfer certificates of 4,500 students had been burnt, the judge said the crime could not be condoned.
To prevent such violent incidents, the judge ordered that the CB-CID probe all unnatural student deaths reported in educational institutions in future, and that a team of three doctors conduct the postmortem. He also ordered that the postmortem be videographed.
To curb instances of police succumbing to pressure from protesters and resorting to unnecessary arrests, the court ordered that the police could arrest anyone involved in such deaths only after the Education Department conducts an internal inquiry. “This direction should be followed scrupulously,” the judge stressed.
Directing the CB-CID to identify the individuals who formed WhatsApp groups and spread false news, which resulted in the riots, the judge said appropriate action must be initiated against them. He also ordered action against those who had been conducting a parallel investigation and trial on social media.
Wondering what was the necessity for them to indulge in such activities when the court and the police were seized of the case related to the girl’s death, the judge directed the DGP to identify the YouTubers and others who had conducted parallel investigation and trial in the case and initiate steps to get their channels blocked. The judge called for a status report by June 29 on the investigation into Sunday’s violence.
Since the DGP informed the court that the investigation into the girl’s death was transferred to the CB-CID on Sunday itself, the judge ordered only a re-postmortem by a team of doctors including Geethanjali, Juliana Jayanthi and Gokularaman, serving as professors in the government medical colleges in Villupuram, Salem and Tiruchi, respectively. Apart from them, Santhakumar, a retired director of the Forensic Sciences Department, was requested to be present during the postmortem.
The judge permitted the girl’s father to be present with his lawyer K. Kesavan during the postmortem, without interfering with the procedure.
The judge, however, restrained the petitioner and the lawyer from giving interviews to the media regarding the investigation or the re-postmortem. Though the petitioner’s counsel R. Sankarasubbu requested for including a doctor of his choice in the postmortem panel, the judge rejected such request after not finding it to be for bona fide reasons.
“The petitioner should have some faith in the experts and the court. This court has appointed the above doctors after thorough analysis about their credentials,” the judge wrote and directed the girl’s family to accept her body after the re-postmortem and conduct the funeral rites peacefully without giving any more room for violence.
Also read: Kallakurichi SP warns of action against circulating fake video
