GANAPATHI Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS petition coming on for orders, upon perusing the petition and upon hearing the arguments of Mr. M. Karpagavinayagam, Advocate for the petitioners and of Mr. K.S. Ahamed, Public Prosecutor for Pondicherry on behalf of the State, the Court made the following Order. One Neelamegam since stated to have been deceased was said to have been employed in the Pondicherry Paper Mills, who is stated to be married to one Vasantha. On 25.5.1992 as usual he was stated to have gone to the said Paper Mills for work. At about 2 P.M. on that day when he was returning from the Paper Mill after his work along Manachalai Road, Pillaiyar Kuppam situate near the said Mill, he was said to have been kidnapped in a biscuit colour Ambassador car bearing Registration No. TN. 31 -3808 by some unknown persons. On coming to know of the incident, it is said, his wife Vasantha was said to have laid an information before the Station House Officer, Kirumambakkam Police Station at 11 P.M., which was registered as a case in Crime No. 73 of 1992 for the alleged offence under section 364 read with 34 I.P.C. She divulged in the said information the names of four persons, namely Subbarayalu and Palani of Kirumambakkam and Subbaraman and Selvam of Nallathur, against whom she entertained a strong suspicion in the daredevil act of her husband having been kidnapped and investigation had been taken up.

(2.) A dead body was stated to have been found on 10.6.1992 near Pennargivor within the limits of Valavanur Police Station and the village Administrative Officer of that locality was said to have lodged an information with the Station House Officer, Valavanur Police Station, who in turn registered a case in Crime No. 401 of 1992 under section 174 Cr.P.C. as death under suspicious circumstances. The inquest over the dead body was stated to have been conducted on the said date by the Executive Magistrate Villupuram and the body was stated to have been identified by Vasantha as that of her husband Neelarnegam. The body was stated to have been sent for the purpose of autopsy to Government Hospital, Villupuram. After autopsy was over, the body was stated to have been handed over to the relatives of the deceased on 12.6.1992. It appears that the Station House Officer, Kirumambakkam was not at all intimated about the dead body by whomsoever and he had no occasion to hold any enquiry regarding the body of the deceased to find out as to whether the corpose was that of the corpse of Neelamegam.

(3.) DURING the Course of Investigation by the Station House Officer, Kirumambakkam, one Ramkumar, manager of Star Detergent Soap Factory situate near the alleged place of kidnapping, had been examined on 30.5.1992. On the same day, one other person by name Ramesh said to be working as an office boy under Ramkumar was also examined. From their examination, the taxi which was used for the alleged kidnapping was identified as the one bearing Registration No. T.N. 31 -3808. With the said material, the taxi driver by name Gandhi was said to have been traced out on 9.6.1992 and a statement had been recorded from him. The said statement did not reveal the names of any of the persons said to have been involved in the alleged kidnapping of Neelamegam in his taxi. But, what all he would state is that in view of the fact that he had been with them numbering about four, for quite a long time in the process of travel in the taxi, he can identify them if they were shown to him. He was else stated to have revealed that the person who engaged the taxi was none else than the person whose photograph was shown by the investigating agency and that Photograph of one Palani. The statement in pith and substance did not at all give any identifying particulars of the four persons said to be travelling in the taxi after the kidnapping was over and what all the revelation that was made was the identifying particulars of the person who engaged his taxi on that date.