HC orders speedy probe into Sivaganga youth’s death after custodial torture

Madurai: Observing that custodial violence remains one of the gravest affronts to rule of law, Madras high court on Wednesday directed CB-CID to complete investigation expeditiously and file the final report before the jurisdictional court, in the case where a youth, Akash, died of custodial torture in Manamadurai in Sivaganga district.

“The state is vested with coercive powers to investigate crime; however, such powers can never extend to infliction of torture. The constitutional promise under Article 21 does not end at the gates of a police station. Every person, irrespective of the allegations against him, retains his fundamental right to life, dignity and bodily integrity,” observed Justice L Victoria Gowri.

The court passed the order while disposing of the petition filed by Akash’s father A Rajeshkannan who sought a direction to the state to register a criminal case for the murder arising out of alleged custodial torture under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, along with provisions of the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, based on his complaint.

The judge appreciated Manamadurai judicial magistrate M Afzal Fathima, whose remand proceedings ensured preservation of a crucial contemporaneous account that now forms part of the investigative record. The magistrate personally visited Sivaganga government medical college hospital, identified the accused through the duty doctor, interacted with him, noticed the extensive injury to his right leg, elicited from him the circumstances leading to the injury and faithfully recorded the allegations made by him regarding custodial torture and ill-treatment. The magistrate has further recorded explanation offered by the accused on scratches found on his body, and has specifically noted the complaint of torture made against the police personnel, the judge observed.

Justice Victoria Gowri observed that in the present case, the remand report assumes immense evidentiary significance, not because it establishes guilt against any individual, but because it constitutes a contemporaneous judicial record made at a point of time when the injured accused was alive, under treatment and available for direct interaction with a judicial officer. Such records form an important part of the truth-seeking process in all allegations involving custodial violence, the judge said.

The judge observed that based on the remand report of the judicial magistrate and preliminary postmortem materials, the offence has already been altered into one under Section 103 of BNS read with Section 3(2)(v) of SC&ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Investigation has been transferred to CB-CID and a deputy superintendent of police appointed as investigating officer. CCTV footage has been secured. Relevant medical, prison and police records have been collected. The co-accused has been examined.