HC refuses to suspend sentence of 4 cops in 1999 custodial death case
Madras high court
has refused to suspend the sentence of four police personnel convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court in connection with the custodial death of a man in Tuticorin district in 1999.
A division bench of justice A D Jagadish Chandira and justice R Poornima observed that the trial in the present case commenced after 25 years and the accused are responsible for the delay. The contradictions and improvements cannot be examined in an application for suspension of sentence, particularly when the accused were convicted for life imprisonment.
The court was hearing the petitions filed by Subbiah, Ramakrishnan, Jeyasekaran, and Veerabahu.
In April 2025, the I additional district and sessions court in Tuticorin sentenced nine people, including the petitioners, to life imprisonment in connection with the custodial death of Vincent. The trial court acquitted two people from the case. The petitioners filed appeals challenging the conviction and seeking suspension of sentence and bail.
The prosecution's case is that the deceased, Vincent, was a resident of Alangarathattu in Tuticorin district.
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In Sept 1999, Vincent was taken to the Thalamuthu Nagar police station for inquiry in connection with a case pertaining to the supply of country-made bombs. Vincent denied supplying the bombs.
Meanwhile, Vincent complained of chest pain, and was taken to a private hospital for treatment. After his health deteriorated, he was taken to a govt hospital in Tuticorin; however, the doctors declared him brought dead. Vincent's wife, Krishnammal, claimed that her husband died due to custodial torture by police personnel and filed a complaint.
The revenue divisional officer (RDO) conducted an inquiry and submitted a report stating that the brutal attack and torture by all the police personnel on duty were responsible for Vincent's death. A complaint was filed by the RDO, and the same was committed to the court of sessions in 2006.
The additional public prosecutor submitted that it is a case of custodial death. As per the postmortem report, around 38 injuries were found on the deceased.
Though the occurrence took place in 1999, the trial commenced in 2024 after a lapse of nearly 25 years.
"The delay in the trial proceedings cannot be attributed to the prosecution, and it does not weigh in favour of the petitioners. The trial court, after meticulous analysis of the available material and after a full-fledged trial, found the petitioners guilty of the offences. In view of the serious nature of offences and the absence of procedural infirmity, we find that there is no ground to suspend the sentence," the judges observed and dismissed the petitions.
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