It is not often that political hooliganism is punished in a court of law. In cases that result in loss of life, investigation and prosecution tend to become inescapable — but the trials are often derailed because of the nexus between party heavyweights and police officers who lean on witnesses to turn hostile. It is therefore gratifying that the Madras High Court has broken the mould to set aside the perverse acquittal of all those involved in the attack on the Madurai office of Dinakaran, a Tamil daily, in 2007 and sentenced nine of them to life. Three persons were killed due to suffocation after parts of the office were set on fire by a mob owing allegiance to M.K. Alagiri, elder son of M. Karunanidhi and then a powerful Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader in the temple city. They were angry over an opinion poll carried in the daily, which is part of the Sun Group of Kalanithi Maran, grandnephew of M. Karunanidhi and brother of former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran. The poll had claimed that Mr. Alagiri was less popular than his brother M.K. Stalin, who now leads the DMK after Karunanidhi’s death in 2018. While the initial reaction from the media group and the press fraternity was one of anger and outrage, the cause for justice substantially failed after a patch-up between the feuding sections of the family. Even while the investigation was transferred to the CBI, the political system was working to save the party’s hirelings. Most witnesses turned hostile, the trial judge rejected even photographic and videographic evidence on technical grounds, and the CBI failed to bring home the guilt of the assailants.

The High Court has noted that among the eye-witnesses who shied away from deposing in favour of the prosecution were Dinakaran’s own reporters and photographers, other journalists who covered the event and many police officers who were at the spot while the protest was turning violent and dozens of party cadre were gathering there with lethal intent. It has made a dark but possibly apposite comparison with the Best Bakery case, in which a key witness turned hostile and it was later revealed she had lied out of fear for her life. The Bench has pulled up the trial judge for “manifest perversity” in his treatment of evidence, especially in rejecting on flimsy grounds the testimony of forensic experts that there was no sign of manipulation or tampering in the photographs and footage presented in court. It was well known to the public that Mr. Alagiri wielded enormous clout at that time and that his supporters were involved in the incident. It is indicative of the atmosphere of intimidation that prevailed that even journalists who covered the incident denied their presence. While the court has prevented a miscarriage of justice in this case, it is a sordid truth that the state of affairs may continue in future too, unless amoral political leaders and pliant police officers mend themselves.