The Madras High Court has recently ordered that a murder trial take place within the prison premises due to concerns about the safety of both the complainant and the witnesses in the case. The court emphasised that it possessed the authority to take extraordinary measures in exceptional circumstances.
Justice KK Ramakrishnan passed the order in an appeal filed by one Sutherson against his bail plea rejection by a Special Court in Thoothukudi.
Sutherson was accused of involvement in the murder of one Muthukumar, a practising advocate in Thoothukudi and a member of the Tirunelveli Bar Association.
The allegations stated that since Muthukumar was opposing bail petitions by the accused persons in his brother’s murder case, the accused in jail conspired with Sutherson and other accused and murdered Muthukumar as well.
However, Sutherson argued that the only evidence against him was a confession statement from a co-accused and a money transfer from his bank account. He claimed innocence and sought bail, emphasising his lack of prior criminal record and his achievements as a Gold medalist in engineering.
The Additional Public Prosecutor and Muthukumar’s other brother/the de-facto complainant vehemently opposed bail, presenting incriminating evidence such as phone records and witness statements regarding the conspiracy involving Sutherson and the other accused.
Taking into account the strong evidence against Sutherson as well as the fact that many of the co-accused had previous serious criminal cases and Sutherson’s relationship with them was itself a strong circumstance, the court declined to grant him bail.
Along with that, the court acknowledged the threat to the complainant and witnesses in the present case, citing the importance of safeguarding victims and witnesses under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The court noted that since Muthukumar, who was an eyewitness in the earlier murder case had been already killed and threats were also being extended to the de facto complainant, the extraordinary circumstances in this case demanded extraordinary remedy.
Accordingly, while following the principle laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of Popular Muthiah v State, reported in (2006), the high court invoked the power under section 482 of CrPC in the interest of justice and ordered the trial to take place within the prison.
“The direction to conduct the trial in jail is not a new one and the Hon’ble Supreme Court and also various High Courts justify the trial in jail premises upon considering the various factors like life threat to the accused, witnesses and the hostile atmosphere. As per Section 327 Cr.P.C (corresponding old Section 352 Cr.P.C), it is permissible to conduct the trial in the jail premises and the same was considered by the Hon’ble Supreme Court and various High Courts in different occasions,” it noted.
The high court directed the special judge, special court for the trial of cases under the SC/ST(POA)Act, Thoothukudi, to conduct the trial in the Central Prison, Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli district, and dispose of the case within a period of two months.
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