Petition against EPS dismissed with cost

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Monday dismissed a petition filed for a direction to investigate former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and to dismiss former Coimbatore district Superintendent of Police Pandiarajan for allegedly disclosing the name of a victim in a Government Order to transfer the Pollachi Sexual abuse case to CBI as well as in a press meet.

The first division bench of Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy passed the directions on hearing a petition filed by Balachandran Ganesan, a Chennai-based activist.

The judges imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 after the government advocate informed the bench that disciplinary action has been already initiated against the concerned police officer who disclosed the name of the victim.

Recording the submissions, the ACJ observed that already the Madurai bench of the Madras HC had passed an order to take action against the police officer who revealed the name of the victim in a press conference. “However, without having the knowledge of that development, the petitioner had approached the principal seat of Madras HC,” the bench pointed out and dismissed the same with the cost.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that the act of the SP naming the victim was to threaten the other victims to restrain them from coming forward to lodge a complaint against the accused. Due to political influence, the accused name was not released first. He further stated that without considering the safety of the victim, a GO released in a government headed by EPS had also disclosed the name.

In 2018, it came to limelight that a gang allegedly used to entice hundreds of women and take them to isolated places in Pollachi after befriending them on social media. They sexually assaulted them and filmed the act.