Madras High Court bench holds Skype hearing for first time

Justices V Ramasubramanian and N Kirubakaran had on December 22, 2015 turned down a plea moved on behalf of pastor Gideon Jacob seeking to allow the 89 inmates of the children’s home to attend Christmas and New Year service at the church run by them. The plea was turned down on the basis of a probe, which revealed that the safety and security of the inmates housed in the home were in imminent danger. The court had also ordered the District Collector to take over the home. 

However, the urgent hearing by the division bench and that too on a vacation day, was necessitated as all the 89 inmates of the house resorted to a road blockade against the judges’ refusal to permit them to attend the Christmas service in the church. 

When the matter was brought to the notice of the judges’ by the Special Government Pleader (SGP) A.K. Bhaskarapandian, the judges Ramasubramanian and Kirubakaran presided over the proceedings through video call from the former’s residence in Chennai while the SGP and the counsel for the home Siddharth argued from Madurai.

The bench pointed out that they had refused permission to the inmates only to dispel their notion that pastor Gideon Jacob, was their only saviour. The judges’ also directed the pastor not to force the inmates, that  included 35 women aged above 18, to indulge in such intimidatory tactics.