Sathankulam custody deaths: Dismiss magistrate, says NGO

CHENNAI: Disciplinary and criminal action should be initiated against the magistrate who mechanically passed orders remanding P Jayaraj and his son Bennix, which led to their ‘custodial murder’, and he should be dismissed from service immediately, a citybased organisation urged Madras High Court Chief Justice AP Sahi.

In a representation submitted on Friday, Arappor Iyakkam convener Jayaram Venkatesan said magistrate B Saravanan had remanded the father-son duo in 14-day judicial custody without application of mind and without even determining whether there was a need for remand at all.

He should have looked at their health conditions (apparent from their physical injuries) and sent them to a hospital. If the magistrate had performed his duty in accordance with law and took due care, they would not have died, he said.

Further, pointing out that the actions of the magistrate was against numerous court orders and principles of natural justice, and has deprived them of their fundamental right of protection of life and personal liberty and right to judicial remedy, Jayaram said, “Custodial violence by the police stands undeterred because of their nexus with many magistrates in the lower judiciary, doctors not giving treatment/ false fitness certificates and jail authorities. This nexus is clearly visible in the case of Jayaraj and Bennix, which led to their untimely death.”

Narrating the sequence of events which led to their death, Jayaram noted that the absurd statements in the FIR (of rolling on the road and injuring themselves) and mismatch between the sections assigned and the offences should have raised questions about the genuineness of the FIR.

However, the magistrate abdicated his judicial responsibility and recklessly remanded them, contributing to their deaths, he added.