Russ Foundation director M. Berlin Jose on Wednesday moved the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court challenging the detention order passed against him under the Goondas Act.
He and his employee John Prabhakar were both arrested on the charges of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl, an inmate of the home run by the foundation, and subsequently remanded in judicial custody. The private home at Thondaimanpatti, Madurai District, was sealed.
Earlier, his bail petition filed before the High Court Bench was dismissed after the court was informed that the provisions of Goondas Act had been invoked against him.
In his habeas corpus petition, Berlin Jose said the detention order was passed against him in a casual manner. Without any material or evidence on the allegation of sexual harassment, the detaining authority assumed that he was a threat to the society.
The detention order was passed relying on the ground that a case was booked against him by Chatrapatti police under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. The detention order ought not to have been passed when he was already remanded in judicial custody, he said.
He sought a direction to set aside the detention order passed against him and set him at liberty. A Division Bench of Justices T. Raja and B. Pugalendhi ordered notice to the State and adjourned the hearing in the case.
