Madras High Court
S.Palanisamy vs The District Collector on 14 December, 2015
Author: S.Vaidyanathan
Bench: S.Vaidyanathan
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT
DATED: 14.12.2015
CORAM
THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE S.VAIDYANATHAN
Crl.O.P.(MD) No. 21959 of 2015
S.Palanisamy ... Petitioner/Father of the deceased
-vs-
1. The District Collector,
Trichy District,
Trichy.
2. The Deputy Superintendent of Police,
Office of the Deputy Superintendent of Police,
Manapparai, Trichy District.
3. The Inspector of Police,
Manapparai Police Station,
Manapparai, Trichy District.
(Crime No.342/2015) ... Respondents/Respondents
4. Duraimurugan ... 4th Respondent/PW1
5. Alex @ Alexkumar
6. Arun ... Respondents 5&6/A1&A2
in J.C.No.37/2015
7. Arun @ Arunpandian
8. Karthik @ Hockey Karthik
9. Balaji ... Respondents 7 to 9/A1toA3
in Spl.S.C.No.11/2015
Common Prayer: Petitions filed under Section 482 of Code of Criminal
Procedure to direct the 1st respondent to appoint Mr.R.Subburaj, Advocate,
having office at No.56, North Veli Street, Madurai-1 or in the alternative to
appoint Mr.G.J.Maduram, Advocate, having office at No.3/F, E.V.R.Road,
Puthur, Trichy-17, as Special Public Prosecutor to conduct trial in Special
S.C.No.11/2015 pending on the file of PCR Court, Trichy and to conduct trial
in J.C.No.37/2015 on the file of Juvenile Justice Board, Trichirappalli.
!For Petitioner : Mr.A.Rahul
^For R1 to R3 : Mrs.S.Prabha
Govt. Advocate (Crl.Side)
:O R D E R
This petition has been filed, seeking a direction to the 1st respondent to appoint Mr.R.Subburaj, Advocate, having office at No.56, North Veli Street, Madurai-1 or in the alternative to appoint Mr.G.J.Maduram, Advocate, having office at No.3/F, E.V.R.Road, Puthur, Trichy-17, as Special Public Prosecutor to conduct trial in Special S.C.No.11/2015 pending on the file of PCR Court, Trichy and to conduct trial in J.C.No.37/2015 on the file of Juvenile Justice Board, Trichirappalli.
2. The case of the petitioner / father of the deceased is that if the trial is conducted with the aid of the Regular Public Prosecutor posted at the Court, he will not get justice definitely, as none of the cases conducted by him ended in conviction. Therefore, he seeks direction for appointment of a Special Public Prosecutor at the cost of the Government to conduct his case.
3. On the other hand, the Government Advocate (Crl.Side) has submitted that the investigation has been conducted and a charge sheet has also been laid in the shortest possible time. Therefore, the question of appointment of competent officer as Special Public Prosecutor does not arise at this point of time.
4. Heard both sides.
5. It is seen that a case in Crime No.342 of 2015 for offences under Sections 147, 148, 341, 324, 302 IPC r/w Section 3(2)(v) of SC/ST (POA) Act, 1989, has been registered and charge sheets have also been filed before the concerned Court in Spl.S.C.No11 of 2015 and J.C.No.37 of 2015. A glance at the Rule 4(5) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995, reveals that the said Rule empowers the District Magistrate / District Collector to make such appointment. Earlier, this Court also in the case of R.Kandasamy vs. The District Collector, Salem District, Salem, reported in 2013-2-L.W.711, by referring to another judgment of this Court in Dhamayanthi vs. Muruganantham and others [2011 (2) MLJ (Crl) 22], directed the respondent therein to appoint a Senior Counsel to conduct the trial of the case.
6. Though the Government Advocate (Crl.Side) is not in a position to the refute the contention of the petitioner, she has submitted that under the Special Enactment, there is a provision prescribed for appointment of Special Public Prosecutor
7. Normally, this Court would not have granted the relief, if the petitioner has pursued the remedy under the provisions of Section 24(8) r/w 301 Cr.P.C., while filing this petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C. Since various offences are complained of, including the one under the provisions of SC/ST (POA) Act, this Court, by following the earlier judgments of this Court, is constrained to grant the relief sought by the petitioner.
8. Accordingly, this Criminal Original petition is disposed of, with a direction to the 1st respondent to consider to appoint Mr.R.Subburaj, Advocate (Ent.No.157/1982), No.8, Law Chamber, District Court Campus, Madurai-20 (Mobile No.9842189955) as Special Public Prosecutor to conduct the trial in Special S.C.No.11/2015 pending on the file of PCR Court, Trichy and to conduct the trial in J.C.No.37/2015 on the file of Juvenile Justice Board, Trichirappalli, if there are no legal impediments. The Special Public Prosecutor appointed now is entitled to fees, payable by the Government as per the rules. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petitions are closed.
To:
1. The District Collector, Trichy District, Trichy.
2. The Deputy Superintendent of Police, Office of the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Manapparai, Trichy District.
3. The Inspector of Police, Manapparai Police Station, Manapparai, Trichy District.
4. The Additional Public Prosecutor, Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, Madurai. .