The judgment established the principle of strict liability and the entitlement to compensation for violation of fundamental rights under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

(Prayer: Petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India Praying for the issuance of a writ of mandamus as stated therein.)

Common Order

In all the above three writ petitions, the legal heirs of the deceased Bale @ Subramaniam (W.P.No.1602 of 1999), Jayaraman (W.P.No.1603 of 1999) and Rajamanickam (W.P.No.1604 of 1999) are the petitioners respectively and they have prayed for the issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to pay a sum of Rs.5 lakhs each as compensation for the loss and suffering caused by the officials of the second respondent by the torture, murder and burning of the said three deceased persons.

2. In all the three cases, the facts are one and the same. The averments in the respective affidavits filed in the above writ petitions are almost identical. The necessary facts for the disposal of the writ petitions are set out below:

i) The petitioners in the above writ petitions are residents of Thandanur Village, Attur Taluk, Salem district; forest areas surround the village. It is the case of the petitioners that forest officials often insisted Bale @ Subramaniam, Jayaraman and Rajamanickam to help them in their illegal activities. But they refused to oblige and hence the forest officials demanded money and threatened to implicate them in Sandal theft cases. While so, on 29.10.1990, the above said three persons left their house stating that they are going to Attur for purchasing cooking utensils; but they never returned back. The petitioners, with the assistance of their family members and relatives, met forest and police officials, but the whereabouts of the said three persons were not known. After 10 days the petitioners found the burnt remains of the said three persons. A criminal case was registered and after investigation it was found that 12 forest officials of various designation namely, (1) Nalandahkrishnamoorthy, (2) Lazar, (3) Palanivelu, (4) Raju, (5) Kandasamy, (6) Mannar Mannan, (7) Krishnamoorthy, (8) Lakshmanan, (9) Perumal, (10) Govindan, (11) Murugesan and (12) Chinnathambi, who were the accused 1 to 12 in S.C.No.209 of 1994 on the file of the Principal Sessions Court, Salem did the most heinous crime.

ii) It is the case of the petitioners that on completion of the investigation and filing of charge sheets against the abovesaid accused persons it came to the light that on 29.10.1990 at about 6.30 pm, Accused 1 to 4 mentioned above, took Bale @ Subramaniam, Jayaraman and Rajamanickam into custody in the guise of interrogation regarding sandalwood case and took them to Attur Range Forest Office. There, Accused 1 and 4 to 9 beat all the three of them with lathies, sticks and hands and due to grievous injuries Bale @ Subramaniam succumbed to death.

iii) Thereafter, the said accused persons took the body of Bale @ Subramaniam in the Forest Department Jeep bearing registration No.TNT 8997 into the Thakarai Reserve Forest situated within the jurisdiction of Chinnasalem Police Station in South Arcot District and burnt him. Thereafter, the above said accused officials and particularly Accused 3, 4, 6, 9 and 12 on 30.10.1990, took Rajamanickam and Jayaraman to the Sana Mavoo Reserve Forest situated within the jurisdiction of Hosur Police Station in Dharmapuri District by the Forest Department Jeep of Attur Range Forest Office. Thereafter, on 31.10.1990 at about 2.30 am, in the "Pullu Plot" at the Sana Mavoo Reserve Forest, the Accused 3, 4 and 6 held the hands of the Rajamanickam and the Accused 12 caught hold of the legs and the Accused 6 strangulated him with his hands and also Accused 4 and 6 forcefully administered poison mixed in brandy and murdered him and all of them burnt his body. On the same day at 3.30 am, Jayaraman was taken by the accused to a place called Pathakottai in the same Sana Mavoo Reserve Forest and there, Accused 3 held his legs and Accused 4, 6 and 9 forcefully administered poison mixed in brandy and murdered and burnt him.

iv) All the above sa