Justice K Murali Shankar gave the direction on a petition filed in 2021 by J Selvarani, wife and mother of the deceased traders P Jeyaraj and J Beniks respectively, seeking direction to expedite the trial in the case.

Finish Sathankulam custodial death trial within three months: Madras HC to judge

The court had disposed of the above petition on March 18, 2021 directing the 1st Additional District and Sessions Court, Madurai, to complete the trial within six months.

MADURAI: Noting that nearly four-and-a-half years have lapsed since the commencement of trial in Sathankulam Jeyaraj-Beniks custodial death case, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the trial court in Madurai to complete the trial in the case in three months ‘without fail’.

Justice K Murali Shankar gave the direction on a petition filed in 2021 by J Selvarani, wife and mother of the deceased traders P Jeyaraj and J Beniks respectively, seeking direction to expedite the trial in the case.

The said petition was disposed of on March 18, 2021, by directing the trial court, namely, the 1st Additional District and Sessions Court, Madurai, to complete the trial within six months. Thereafter, the High Court has extended the above deadline on atleast 10 occasions mostly at the requests of the trial judge or on its own while hearing the bail petitions of the accused. But despite several directions issued by the court to expedite the trial including a suggestion to conduct the trial on a day-to-day basis, the trial has not been completed yet.

On one occasion, the CBI Special Public Prosecutor had told the court that the trial could not be completed because of the ‘marathon’ cross examination made by the accused cops, especially the key accused inspector S Sridhar, who was cross examining the accused himself without engaging an advocate.

For instance, while opposing his bail plea in June this year, the CBI had informed that he had cross-examined the judicial magistrate for 26 hearings and the investigation officer no.1 for 21 hearings. While extending the trial deadline the same month, Justice Shankar had also advised the trial court to prevent the accused from wasting judicial time and assign a legal aid counsel, if needed.