The Madras High Court Bench here has decided to hold an elaborate enquiry into suspected collusion between the office of a Judicial Magistrate at Kuzhithurai in Kanniyakumari district and the local police to wriggle out of the grave charge of having remanded a three-year-old boy in judicial custody along with his father and maternal aunt without letting him to go with his mother.
Passing interim orders on a habeas corpus petition filed by the boy’s mother, a Division Bench of Justices K.K. Sasidharan and B. Gokuldas said: “It is found from the remand report that the name of the child was originally shown as a person to be remanded. The name was struck off with whitener. However, in the body, the police have indicated the production of the child along with two accused.
“Very strangely, the learned 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… We have reasons to believe that the office of the learned Judicial Magistrate colluded with the police and applied whitener.
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“There is nothing on record to show as to when the alterations were made, whether before producing it to the court or thereafter… We are taking this issue seriously… Mr. Shunmugaraja, learned Judicial Magistrate-I, Kuzhithurai, and his Head Clerk Mr. Sibu are directed to submit their explanation within a week. We also direct the Inspector of Marthandam Police Station to submit his explanation by then.”
The Division Bench directed the Additional Superintendent of Prison, Special Prison for Women, Madurai, to release the child forthwith and adjourned the HCP till August 4 for further hearing.