Madras High Court
Shanthi vs The State Of Tamil Nadu on 20 June, 2014
Author: R.Subbiah
Bench: R.Subbiah
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT DATED: 20.06.2014 CORAM THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE R.SUBBIAH W.P.(MD)No.2094 of 2014 and M.P.(MD) Nos.1 and 2 of 2014 Shanthi ... Petitioner Vs. 1.The State of Tamil Nadu, Represented by its Home Secretary, St. George Fort, Chennai. 2.The State of Tamil Nadu, Represented by The Superintendent of Police, Ramanathapuram District. 3.The Inspector of Police, Kilathooval Police Station, Ramanathapuram District. 4.Central Bureau of Investigation, Represented by the Superintendent of Police, Shastri Bhawan, Nungampakkam, Chennai. 5.The Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mudhukulathur, Ramanathapuram District. 6.The District Collector, Ramanathapuram District, Ramanathapuram. 7.The Dean, Madurai Government Medical College, Madurai. 8.The Deputy Superintendent of Police, CBCID, Ramanathapuram District. ... Respondents R-4 given up vide Hon'ble Court Order dated 07.02.2014 R8 Impleaded vide Court order dated 07.03.2014 in M.P.(MD) No.3 of 2014. Prayer Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for the issuance of a Writ Mandamus to withdraw the case in Crime No.1 of 2014 on the file of Respondent No.3 and entrust the same to the Respondent No.4 for investigation of the case by a competent officer and to file a final report before the Jurisdictional Magistrate within the time stipulated by this Hon'ble Court. !For Petitioner ... Mr.R.Venkatesan ^For Respondents ... Mr.N.S.Karthikeyan 1 to 3 & 5 to 8 Additional Government Pleader For 4th Respondent ... Given Up :ORDER
The writ petition has been filed seeking for the issuance of a Writ of Mandamus to withdraw the case in Crime No.1 of 2014 on the file of Respondent No.3 and entrust the same to the Respondent No.4 for investigation of the case by a competent officer and to file a final report before the Jurisdictional Magistrate within a time frame.
2. The case of the petitioner is that the petitioner had three sons. Her second son Late Sathishkanth was aged about 15 years. He was studying at Sacred Heart School at Thiruvarangam and was staying at the School Hostel. On 02.01.2014, the petitioner was informed that her son has committed suicide in the study hall of the school. She immediately went to the school, where the second respondent instructed the petitioner to put a signature in a white paper. But the petitioner informed that there is a suspicion about her son's death. It is the further case of the petitioner that her son was beaten by the Correspondent Vincent Raja on the same day for tonsuring his head. Subsequently, a case was registered under Section 174 Cr.P.C. in Crime No.1 of 2014. After her son's death, no R.D.O. enquiry was conducted. The petitioner is having a strong doubt that her son should have been murdered. If the investigation is done by the third respondent, there would be great miscarriage of justice. Therefore, the petitioner made a representation dated 06.01.2014, to the sixth respondent and again she made a representation dated 09.01.2014 to the Director General of Police, the Chief Minister Cell, the Human Rights Commission and National Human Rights Commission for taking legal action against the accused persons. Thereafter, she filed the present writ petition to transfer the investigation.
3. Countering the same, the third respondent has filed a counter stating that on 02.01.2014, the second respondent has received a phone call from the Sacred Heart's School that a student had committed suicide in the School Campus. Therefore, the second respondent rushed to the spot immediately and found that the son of the petitioner viz. Sathishkanth has committed suicide by hanging in the class room. The officials of the second respondent have taken photographs. Thereafter, the second respondent and other persons have removed the body from the noose and kept the body on the floor of the class room. On 02.01.2014, the petitioner gave a complaint against four persons viz. (i) Vincent T. Raja, Correspondent of Sacred Heart's School, (ii) Peter Rayappan, Head Master of Sacred Heart's School,
(iii) Xavier, Hostel Warden and School Teacher and (iv) Johnson, Hostel Warden and School Teacher, to the third respondent on the ground of suspicious death of her son. After receiving the complaint, the third respondent registered a case in Crime No.1 of 2014 for the alleged offence under Section 174 Cr.P.C. on the ground of suspicious death. After registering the F.I.R., the second respondent went to the spot along with police officials at early morning 2.00 a.m. on 03.01.2014 and prepared the Mahazar in that place with the help of church lights and in the presence of James Selvaraj and Manickam. Thereafter, on 03.02.2014, the second respondent went to the Government Hospital, Ramanathapuram and conducted inquest over the body of Sathishkanth from 8.00 a.m. to 10.00 a.m. in the presence of Muthu, Sivanandi, Sivaprahasam, Rajkumar and Kathiresan. Subsequently, the second respondent examined several witnesses and obtained their statements under Section 161(3) Cr.P.C. As per the investigation, the second respondent found that the petitioner's son has committed suicide on the element of carelessness and recklessness of the school management and altered the F.I.R. immediately to Section 304(A) I.P.C. from section 174 Cr.P.C. on 03.01.2014 and also arrested the accused persons viz. Vincent T.Raja, Arul Xavier, Johnson at 5.00 p.m. on the same day. Since the offence was altered into Section 304(A) I.P.C., R.D.O. enquiry is not necessary in this matter. In fact, on completion of the investigation, charge sheet was filed before the learned Judicial Magistrate, Muthukulathur for the offence under Section 304- A I.P.C. As on today, there is no investigation pending. Hence, they sought for dismissal of the writ petition.
4. Heard the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and the learned Additional Government Pleader appearing for the respondents and gone through the entire materials available on record.
5. In the counter affidavit, it has been stated that investigation has been completed and charge sheet has also been filed. Therefore, at this point of time, this Court cannot entertain the prayer of the petitioner to transfer the case from the file of third respondent to fourth respondent. Since, the prayer made in the writ petition has become infructuous, the writ petition is liable to be dismissed.
6. Accordingly, the Writ Petition is dismissed as infructuous. However, if the petitioner still has any grievance, she is at liberty to workout her remedy in accordance with law. No costs. Consequently, connected M.Ps. are closed.
To
1.The Home Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, St. George Fort, Chennai.
2.The Superintendent of Police, Ramanathapuram District.
3.The Inspector of Police, Kilathooval Police Station, Ramanathapuram District.
4.Central Bureau of Investigation, Represented by the Superintendent of Police, Shastri Bhawan, Nungampakkam, Chennai.
5.The Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mudhukulathur, Ramanathapuram District.
6.The District Collector, Ramanathapuram District, Ramanathapuram.
7.The Dean, Madurai Government Medical College, Madurai.
8.The Deputy Superintendent of Police, CBCID, Ramanathapuram District.