Thoothukudi Principal District Judge N. Logeswaran has submitted a reference to the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court seeking a clarification on the jurisdiction to try the Sattankulam custodial deaths case.
The Principal District Judge (PDJ), in a communication to the High Court, said that while the PDJ had dismissed the bail petitions of two accused in the case, another accused Murugan had filed a bail petition before the Madurai Principal District Judge, which too was dismissed.
Objections raised
He pointed out that in the bail petitions filed before the Thoothukudi PDJ, the Public Prosecutor for CBI has raised objections and said that the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Madurai, was designated to try cases investigated by the CBI, as per a court notification.
According to the Public Prosecutor for CBI, the Chief Judicial Magistrate at Madurai will commit the case to the Madurai Principal District Judge after a final report is filed in the case and only the Madurai PDJ was having the jurisdiction to try the case. The Thoothukudi PDJ said that under Section 177 of CrPC every offence shall ordinarily be inquired into and tried by a court within whose local jurisdiction the offence was committed. He sought clarification in the issue.
A Division Bench of Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and V. Bharathidasan impleaded the CBI and the CB-CID as respondents in the case.
The judges directed the High Court Registry to submit to the court the notifications on the jurisdictional powers of the courts concerned.
The court also directed the Madurai Principal District Judge to file a report on the jurisdiction to entertain the bail petitions. The case was adjourned by a week.
