The Madras High Court Bench here on Wednesday impressed upon the need for Judicial Magistrates to desist from passing orders in a “mechanical fashion” permitting prisoners to keep children below six years of age along with them and make every endeavour to avoid a child from being taken even to a creche or nursery inside prisons.
A Division Bench of Justices S. Nagamuthu and M.V. Muralidaran said the Magistrates would have to perform an onerous judicial function of protecting the interests of children whenever suspects or accused in criminal cases were accompanied by kids.
The observations were made while dismissing a habeas corpus petition filed by a Dalit from Vilacheri here alleging that her three-year-old son was sent to prison along with her sister and husband, who were remanded in judicial custody in connection with a criminal case booked by Kanniyakumari police, despite a request made by her to give the custody of the child.
During the hearing of the case in July, another Division Bench of the High Court “found from the remand report that the name of the child was originally shown as a person to be remanded and struck off with whitener. However, in the body the police had indicated the production of the child along with two accused.”
Suspecting collusion between the office of the Kuzhithurai Judicial Magistrate and police, the Bench said: “The Magistrate passed an order remanding the two accused without indicating the position of the minor. Thereafter, in the warrant of remand, mention was made that the child has also been sent along with the two accused.” After perusing explanations offered by the Magistrate, his staff, and the police officer, the Bench led by Mr. Justice Nagamuthu found that the police had used the whitener to delete the name of child before presenting the remand report. The judges accepted the statement of the Magistrate that he had to permit the maternal aunt of the child to take him along with her to prison since the whereabouts of the petitioner could not be ascertained.
“Magistrates must protect the interests of children whenever suspects are accompanied by kids”
