Issue directions to surrender accused, State PP urges HC

CHENNAI: The State Public Prosecutor (PP) Hasan Mohammad Jinnah sought the Madras High Court to issue directions to judicial magistrates in surrendering of the accused in murder cases.

The PP appeared before Justice N Anand Venkatesh and sought to quash a judicial custody order issued by the judicial magistrate Sathyamangalam in the murder case of a DMK functionary.

After perusal of the petition, the judge said that detailed guidelines will be issued to judicial magistrates with respect to surrendering of the accused.

The PP had submitted that on February 29, a gang intercepted VS Aramudhan, deputy chairman of Kattangulathur panchayat union and Kattangulathur union secretary of DMK. “They hurled explosive substances on his vehicle and murdered him with deadly weapons including a knife,” recalled Jinnah.

Based on a complaint, the Otteri police, Tambaram, registered a case under various sections including 147, 148 and 302 of the IPC. “On March 1, Muneeswaran, Sathyaseelan, Sampath Kumar and Manikandan surrendered before the judicial magistrate court, Sathyamangalam, Erode,” he added. “The judicial magistrate also entertained the surrender and issued a judicial custody order despite lack of territorial jurisdiction.”

Subsequently, the surrendered accused were remanded in Gopichettipalayam jail. “So now, the Otteri police cannot question the accused under their custody, which is crucial to the investigation,” pointed out PP Jinnah. “Any delay in interrogating them would lead to the destruction of crucial material evidence and derail the investigation.”

He sought to quash the judicial custody order issued by Sathyamangalam judicial magistrate, and also submitted that in recent times, there was a “surge in number of suspects surrendering in courts, which don’t have the jurisdiction to safeguard the real offenders”.