Kochi, Jul 24 The Kerala High Court on Friday reiterated that top police officials were involved in helping the accused in the Kannur dental student suicide case to get released after being arrested.
Justice A Badharudeen also asked the government what action it had taken against the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) who was heading the probe for creating the conditions that led to the release of the accused, MK Ram, head of the department of the college in which the deceased was studying.
The High Court noted that according to the remand report as well as the report specifically sent by the Special Judge (Principal District and Sessions Judge, Thalassery), "it is perceptible prima facie" that the grounds of arrest, as mandated by the verdicts of the Supreme Court, were not furnished to the accused in the case, which led to his release.
"Therefore, the mistake committed by the DySP, who initially recorded the arrest of the accused, is very serious. In open court, he submitted that he had made several arrests and in his last ten arrests, none of the accused was released on the ground of non-furnishing of the grounds of arrest.
"This would indicate the seriousness of the matter and the deliberate omission, which, in fact, led to the release of the accused (Ram) on his production before the court, after his arrest," it said.
The High Court also noted that the report filed by the Additional Director General of Police (Crime Branch) contains an admission regarding non-furnishing of the grounds of arrest to the accused at the time of his arrest and production before the Special Court.
The government also said that it has initiated disciplinary proceedings against the officer and the status of the same shall be placed before the court on August 10, the next date of hearing.
The accused was taken into custody from Karnataka, where he was hiding after his anticipatory bail pleas in the case were rejected by the High Court and the Supreme Court, and his arrest was recorded on Monday.
However, a special court under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act ordered his release on the same day, claiming that the grounds of arrest were not furnished to him.
Displeased over the outcome, the High Court on Wednesday had expressed doubt if top police officials were involved in protecting the accused and directed the investigating officer (IO), who arrested the accused, to appear in person before it on Friday.
It had also sought the presence of the Superintendent of Police, Crime Branch, who supervised the investigation. When the matter was taken up on Friday, both officers were present.
During the hearing, the High Court observed that the police waited for Ram to surrender and moved to arrest him only later.
It also questioned whether the officer knew the Supreme Court guidelines with regard to arrests and pointed out that the public was watching everything.
The court also said that the officer did not appear to be qualified to do his job and observed that he cannot escape his responsibility because the investigation team has been changed.
"What is happening in the state? The systems completely failed. Everyone knows with whom the police are," it said and sought an explanation from the government regarding the matter.
The High Court also directed the Principal Sessions Court to produce documents of the case and said it will examine if there was any lapse on the part of the special court judge.
The High Court also directed the special court judge to ensure the IO follows all the requisite steps and said that the remand can be considered only after such formalities are complied with.
The victim, Nithin Raj, a student of the college at Anjarakandy in Kannur district, was found dead on April 10 after falling from a building on the college campus in a suspected case of suicide.
According to the investigation, Raj, belonging to a Scheduled Caste, was insulted and intimidated by Ram in the classroom.
Kochi, Jul 24 The Kerala High Court on Friday reiterated that top police officials were involved in helping Dr MK Ram, accused in the suicide case of a dental student, to get released after being arrested.
Justice A Badharudeen also asked the government what action it had taken against the Deputy Superintendent of Police who was heading the probe for creating the conditions that led to Ram's release.
The government informed the court that the accused was not aware of the grounds of arrest, which was an "omission" on the part of the DySP, the investigating officer.
Therefore, the government has initiated disciplinary proceedings against the officer and status of the same shall be placed before the court on August 10, the next date of hearing, the prosecutor said.
The accused was taken into custody from Karnataka, where he was hiding after his anticipatory bail pleas in the case were rejected by the High Court and the Supreme Court, and his arrest was recorded on Monday.
However, a special court under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act ordered his release on the same day, claiming that the grounds of arrest were not furnished.
Displeased over the outcome, the High Court on Wednesday had expressed doubt if top police officials were involved in protecting the accused and directed the investigating officer (IO), who arrested the accused, to appear in person before it on Friday.
It had also sought the presence of the Superintendent of Police, Crime Branch, who supervised the investigation, to also appear in person. When the matter was taken up on Friday, both officers were present.
During the hearing, while the officer was present in person, the High Court observed that the police waited for Ram to surrender and moved to arrest him only later.
It also questioned whether the officer knows the Supreme Court guidelines with regard to making arrests and pointed out that the public was watching everything.
The court also said that the officer did not appear to be qualified to do his job and observed that he cannot escape his responsibility because the investigation team has been changed.
"What is happening in the state? The systems are a complete failure. Everyone knows with whom the police are," it said and sought an explanation from the government regarding the matter.
The High Court also directed the Principal Sessions Court to produce documents of the case and said it will examine if there was any lapse on the part of the special court judge.
The High Court also directed the special court judge to ensure the IO follows all the requisite steps and said that the remand can be considered only after such formalities are complied with.
The victim, Nithin Raj, a student of the college at Anjarakandy, was found dead on April 10 after falling from a building on the college campus in a suspected case of suicide.
According to the investigation, Raj, belonging to a Scheduled Caste, was insulted and intimidated by Ram in the classroom.
