Copyright thehindu
After the Madras High Court quashed the police chargesheet in BSP State president K. Armstrong’s murder case on Wednesday, 26 of the 27 accused persons moved the Principal Sessions Court on Friday for immediate bail. But the police opposed their plea. Justice P. Velumurugan of the High Court allowed a petition by Armstrong’s brother Immanuvel for a CBI probe into the murder, quashed the chargesheet, and asked the police to hand over the case records to the central agency forthwith. Armed with this order, advocates for the 26 accused persons appeared before Principal Sessions Judge S. Karthikeyan and sought bail for their clients. Counsel P. Muthamizh Selvakumar said the accused persons should be released on their own bonds since the charge sheet was quashed. Their continued detention would amount to illegal custody, he argued. ‘State intends to challenge order’ Senior Special Public Prosecutor R. Srinivas, however, argued that the accused persons were not entitled to bail because the charge sheet was filed on time and its quashing would not entitle them to bail on the ground of non-filing of charge sheet. He said the State intended to challenge the High Court order. If the accused were enlarged on bail and the Supreme court took a different view, it would be difficult to secure them. There was risk they could abscond. Mr. Srinivas also said, “Now the case has been handed over to the CBI, but the CBI has not taken it up yet. If you consider [granting] bail now, should the objections of CBI or the Sembium police (which had filed the case) be heard? So, the whole thing is nebulous. We cannot insist on the conditions and the CBI is not here to state its view. Therefore, it is a very sensitive situation. It is not conducive to the release of the accused on bail in this situation.” Remand extended After hearing them, the judge extended the remand until October 8 and said he would seek a clarification from the High Court. A senior police officer, who favoured challenging the High Court order, said, “Our investigation was meticulous, including the recovery and forensic analysis of 13 knives, an axe, country-made bombs, and other materials such as 27 cell phones and ₹63 lakh seized from the accused. CCTV footage from the vicinity was scrutinised, and the statements of over 250 witnesses, including family members, associates, and local residents, were recorded to corroborate the chain of events.” The officer feared that since some of the accused were history-sheeters, freeing them would lead to inter-gang rivalry and violence.
