No Bail, Suspension Of Sentence For 4 Tamil Nadu Cops Convicted In Custodial Death Case

In a significant development, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court rejected petitions for suspension of life sentence and grant of bail filed by four convicted police personnel in the 1999 custodial death of Vincent, a salt pan worker from Mel Alangarithattu in Thoothukudi.

The convicted officers - DSP Ramakrishnan (then sub-inspector), Jeyasekaran, Subbaiah, and Veerabahu - were sentenced to life imprisonment and fined Rs 10,000 each by a Thoothukudi sessions court in April this year.

Vincent was taken for interrogation on September 17, 1999, in connection with a country bomb case registered with Thalamuthunagar police station.

His wife Krishnammal alleged he was brutally thrashed in custody.  A post-mortem examination revealed 38 injuries on his body. A magisterial inquiry  led to the filing of a murder case against 11 police personnel. Two were acquitted, while nine were convicted after a prolonged 25-year legal battle.

The convicts moved the high court seeking suspension of their sentence, claiming wrongful implication and citing trial delays. However, a bench of Justices AD Jagadish Chandira and R Poornima dismissed the plea, asserting the delay was caused by the accused themselves and that the trial court had delivered the verdict after a comprehensive, fair trial.

The judges highlighted critical evidence, including hospital records, eyewitness accounts, and police notebook entries.

The court ruled that there was no merit in suspending the sentence in such a serious case of custodial death and emphasized that justice had finally been served after two and a half decades. The bail petitions were dismissed in full.