MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently directed the Registrar General of the High Court to issue a circular to all judicial magistrates instructing them to responsibly handle petitions filed by accused persons seeking exemption from appearance during committal proceedings.
The circular should also remind magistrates that they ought to conclude the proceedings within the mandatory period of 90 days (or 180 days in exceptional cases). The bench issued this direction after learning that a magistrate court in Dindigul had not committed a case, in which an eyewitness of a 2016 murder case was killed, for nearly six years.
Hearing a bail petition filed by one of the accused, Saronraj alias Nagaraj, Justice B Pugalendhi observed, “The magistrates must realise that the court also has a certain responsibility and duty towards the victims. If this is the state of affairs, then no witness would have the moral courage to appear before the court for trial and depose against the accused.” He further directed the Registrar General to call for an explanation from the magistrates who dealt with the said murder case from October 2018 to March 2024.
Noting that the superintendent of police, during weekly and monthly review meetings, ought to have followed up the long pending cases that are at the PRC (preliminary registration case) stage or at trial, the judge had earlier sought a report from the Inspector General of Police (South Zone). The latter, in his reply, admitted lapses on their part and submitted that all sub-divisional officers have been directed to review the PRC stage pending cases and ensure committal.
The IG also told the court that special teams would be formed to nab the absconding accused in cases where non-bailable warrants are pending, since non-appearance of the accused was cited as one of the major reasons for delay in committal proceedings.
It may be noted that as Saronraj, the first accused in the 2016 murder case, was absconding for four years, the trial in his case was split up and is still pending. Meanwhile, one of the eyewitnesses, Kathar Ali, was murdered in 2018 but the committal proceedings in the latter were not completed until queries were posed by the court recently.