MADURAI
After it was informed that the man who was caught harassing a woman at Sankarankoil bus stand managed to get bail, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Tuesday expressed shock over how lightly the case was dealt with.
A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and B. Pugalendhi was hearing suo motu proceedings initiated based on media reports of a Tenkasi man misbehaving with a woman in an inebriated state.
The court sought details in the case that included the proceedings before the Sankarankoil Judicial Magistrate. The court wondered how the man managed to get bail even after he was booked for a non-bailable offence.
The judges asked whether the public prosecutor and the police had opposed the grant of bail to the man. An affidavit had to be filed to this effect from the arrest of the man till his release, the court said. The case was adjourned till December 18.
During the course of the hearing, Tenkasi Superintendent of Police Suguna Singh informed the court that the man was no longer in the police force and was a deserter. The police had booked the man prior to the court taking suo motu cognisance of the incident, he submitted.
The judges also sought a response from the State government with regard to establishing special committees comprising members from each department to take cognisance of news reports and act on them immediately.
Earlier, the court had observed that this incident should be an eye-opener. Not in all cases could the police wait for complaints to be filed. Instead, authorities could rely upon media reports and swing into action.
The court said the mechanism could be extended to address civic issues too. The committee should look into the issues that were being highlighted in the media and take immediate steps to address them, the judges said.
