Madras High Court orders expeditious trial in Rajiv Gandhi Assassination convict’s obscene behaviour case

The Madras High Court on Tuesday ordered an expeditious trial of Rajiv Gandhi Assassination convict Murugan alias Sriharan in a case involving obscene behavior in jail.

Justice N. Satishkumar was hearing Murugan's petition to quash the FIR registered against him at Bagyam police station in Vellore.

Additional Public Prosecutor Tilak Raj submitted that the investigation into the case had been completed and that a charge sheet had been filed with the magistrate.

The court while disposing of the matter, directed to expedite the trial.

On December 9, 2020, a criminal case was filed against Murugan for allegedly standing naked before jail officials and making obscene gestures when some items, including a packet of vallarai, some dry leaves, and Tulsi leaves, were confiscated from his cell in Vellore central jail.

Vellore Central Jail's Jailor J. Mohankumar, in his complaint before the Bagayam police station, stated that on December 9, 2020, a guard on duty in the high-security zone of the prison witnessed a convict passing on some packets to Murugan.

Mohankumar further stated that a team of officials, including a female jail officer, immediately went to his cell with a video camera.

It was further stated in the complaint that Murugan stripped naked in front of the jail staff, including the woman, and made obscene gestures in front of the camera.

Furthermore, it was stated that the leaves were found on the cell floor, and Murugan stated that they were for pooja purposes.

According to the complainant, Murugan used foul language against the jail staff, including the female jail staff, and threw his clothes, a water can, a broomstick, and soap at the prison guards, preventing them from performing their duties.

Murugan, in his petition for quashing the FIR, denied all the allegations and stated that he was a Sri Lankan Tamil who came to Tamil Nadu in 1990 to pursue higher education.

He claimed that after Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, he was named as an accused and arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on July 14, 1991.

Murgan further claimed that after his death sentence was commuted by the Supreme Court on February 18, 2014, a 2018 Tamil Nadu state cabinet recommendation to release all the surviving convicts in the assassination case was now pending before the President.

[Source: DT Next]