Mandatory enquiry by a Judicial Magistrate in cases of custodial death and the discretion to conduct re-postmortem. Guidelines for registering a case against police officials.

JUDGMENT :

(Prayer: Criminal Original Petition filed under Section 482 of Cr.PC praying to grant Interim direction directing the respondents 1 to 3 to conduct the post mortem by appointing doctors from JIPMER Hospital in Puducherry and to direct the first respondent to register a case against the respondents 5 to 7 based on the petitioner's complaint dated 05.11.2020 and to investigate same in accordance with law and to pass such other order or orders as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of this case.)

1. The Criminal Original Petition has been laid by the petitioner mainly to grant an interim direction to the respondents 1 to 3 to conduct the postmortem of the deceased Selvamurugan, her husband, by appointing doctors from JIPMER Hospital, Puducherry and also sought for a direction to the first respondent to register the case against the respondents 5 to 7 based on her complaint dated 05.11.2020 and to investigate the same in accordance with law.

2. Complaining that her husband had been missing from 28.10.2020 and despite her efforts to prefer a complaint with reference to the same in the police station with the help of her relatives, however, her efforts with reference to the same ended in vain and it is further stated that the officials belonging to DSP office crime team, Neyveli, namely Sudhakar and Arivazhagan forced her to part with 10 sovereigns of gold chain for releasing her husband and the same had been turned down by her on 29.10.2020 and on 30.10.2020, the third respondent, namely, the Station House Officer, Neyveli Town Police Station, Neyveli, had called upon her to come to the police station and at the police station, she saw her husband weeping and apprised her that he was threatened and coerced to admit the theft cases and beaten all over the body with lathi and thereby unable to walk and her husband looked very tired and further it is stated that she had handed over a sum of Rs.5,000/- as directed by the police through her relative and on 02.11.2020, when she went to visit her husband at Virudhachalam Sub Jail, her husband was unable to talk with her and showed only his hand and she was informed that her husband sustained injury on the throat and was unable to eat and her husband was taken to the Government Hospital, Virudhachalam and despite her insistence to treat her husband as inpatient, the jail/police authorities got discharged her husband from the hospital and took him to jail. Again on 04.11.2020, she was informed by the jail authorities that her husband was admitted in Virudhachalam Government Hospital and when she went to Virudhachalam Government Hospital, she was further informed that her husband had died and thus it is alleged by the petitioner that her husband was brutally attacked by the officials of the DSP Crime Party, namely, Sudhakar and Arivazhagan and one Arumugam, the inspector attached to Neyveli Town Police Station and therefore, prayed for taking necessary action against the abovesaid persons and register her complaint against them with reference to the death of her husband. Further it is alleged that no proper postmortem would be conducted on the dead body of her husband as police officials are involved in the death of her husband and the postmortem would be influenced by the respondent police to get a favourable report and thereby they are endeavouring to tamper with the evidence and accordingly prayed for the relief of conducting the postmortem by appointing doctors from JIPMER Hospital, Puducherry and for the other relief as aforestated.

3. When the matter came up for hearing before this Court on 10.11.2020, the State Public Prosecutor entered appearance on behalf of the respondents 1 to 4 and put forth that the postmortem of the deceased had already been conducted on 06.11.2020 in the presence of the team of doctors and the same was videographed and the postmortem was also forwarded to the concerned Magistrate and further reported that the investigation ha