CJM court rejects CBI chargesheet in Thoothukudi firing case
The firing during the anti-Sterlite rally left 13 persons dead on May 22 and 23, 2018 and several others injured
Madurai bench of Madras High Court
MADURAI: The Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Court in Madurai on Thursday rejected the chargesheet filed by the CBI, which is probing the Thoothukudi firing case, and directed the probe agency to file a fresh chargesheet within six months.
The firing during the anti-Sterlite rally left 13 persons dead on May 22 and 23, 2018 and several others injured. As per a directive of the Madurai bench of Madras High Court, the case was handed over to the CBI.
KS Arjunan, district secretary, CPM of Thoothukudi, the complainant and the petitioner, felt that FIR should be registered against officials, including former Thoothukudi Collector, Superintendent of Police, several Inspectors of Police, and Tahsildars, who served in the district during the occurrence of the firing incident.
Arjunan sought an FIR against those officials before the CBI and also filed a petition in the High Court insisting the same demand.
However, the CBI in its chargesheet filed before the court named only a single Inspector of Police, Thirumalai, in connection with the whole incident concerning the case.
Arjunan then filed a petition before the CJM Court in Madurai citing that the CBI did not follow rules and regulations while framing the chargesheet in the case without involving the District Collector, SP, District Revenue Officer, and many Inspectors of Police in the case.
Admitting Arjunan’s latest petition, Chief Judicial Magistrate A Pasumpon Shanmugaiah rejected the chargesheet and directed the CBI to conduct a probe and file a fresh chargesheet within six months.