Fakrudeen raises fear of reprisal, Madras HC directs Puzhal jail officials to present him physically

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court directed the Puzhal Central Prison authorities to produce ‘Police’ Fakrudeen, a remand prisoner who appeared before the court through video conferencing and explained his fear that his disclosure before the bench would result in adverse consequences.

A division bench of Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice M Jothiraman issued the direction while hearing a petition moved by Fakrudeen seeking to shift him from solitary confinement. He is classified as a ‘terrorist’ and is accused in the murder of several Hindutva leaders, including Velliappan of Hindu Front and ‘Auditor’ Ramesh.

Appearing for him, advocate S Nadhiya submitted that the prison authorities lodged him in solitary confinement as a vindictive action after he filed a case alleging that the authorities closed the canteen facility for the prisoners.

According to her, the prison officials attacked Fakrudeen after disconnecting the CCTV camera. The advocate also alleged that the prison authorities were not providing proper treatment to the petitioner and sought direction to provide medical assistance.

The bench directed the prison authority to produce Fakrudeen through video conference to know the truth. While appearing virtually, Fakrudeen said he was fearful of the consequences if he disclosed more information, including suffering more punishments inside the prison.

Hence, to have a free and fair discussion, the bench directed the prison authorities to produce Fakrudeen before the court physically and posted the matter to January 27 for further proceedings.

While hearing the case, Justice Subramaniam cited the archaeological findings that revealed that Tamil Nadu was the pioneer in using iron as far ago as 5,300 years and said it must now use an iron hand to curtail corruption and become a pioneer in anti-corruption as well.