HC closes contempt petition

The State on Friday told the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court that the Home Department had deposited ₹20 lakh in the case pertaining to the 2019 custodial torture and death of a 17-year-old boy by the S. S. Colony police in Madurai

Taking note of the same, a Division Bench of Justices R. Subramanian and L. Victoria Gowri closed the contempt petition filed by M. Jeya of Kochadai in Madurai district, the mother of the 17-year-old boy, who complained that the earlier order of the court was not complied with.

Earlier, while hearing the appeal preferred by the State against a Single Bench judgment that had directed the government to pay a compensation of ₹25 lakh to Jeya, the State submitted that the trial in the case was still pending and the family was eligible for a compensation of ₹5 lakh and it had been sanctioned to the family. The court had directed the Home Secretary to deposit ₹20 lakh in a nationalised bank. The court also directed the trial court, Fifth Additional District and Sessions Court in Madurai, to complete the trial in the case in three months.

Earlier, in her petition filed before the Single Bench, Jeya said that her son was picked up by the police on the pretext of an inquiry in a case of jewel theft. However, he was tortured at the police station in which he sustained grievous injuries, she said. Later, he succumbed to injuries at Government Rajaji Hospital. The probe into the custodial death case was transferred to the CB-CID by the High Court.

Published - September 27, 2024 10:44 pm IST