The Madras High Court Bench here has dismissed a State appeal as well as a criminal revision case, moved by a complainant, in a murder case challenging the acquittal of as many as 12 accused in the 15-year-old case.
A Division Bench of Justices S. Nagamuthu and V.S. Ravi held that they did not find any reason to interfere with the lower court judgement acquitting the 12 accused of the charge of murdering one individual, since there were many doubts in the prosecution case.
According to Suchindram police in Kanyakumari district, the incident occurred when the accused as well as the deceased, Chella Nadar, were watching a stage play, conducted as part of a temple festival in Kalladivilai village, during the night hours of May 2, 2000. The insistence of one of the accused on displaying his aunt’s portrait on the stage had reportedly led to a quarrel between his supporters and the supporters of the deceased. The wordy duel snowballed into a clash with the two groups indulging in stone pelting. Pointing out that the deceased had suffered only one injury that led to his death, the Division Bench said: “It appears that there was a free for all…When there was pelting of stones by both the parties, one of the stones would have hit the deceased also. Though there is only a single injury on the body of the deceased, as many as 12 people have been roped in. This shows that owing to an enmity, an attempt has been made to rope in as many number of people as possible,” the judges added.
