The Hindu : National : Will there be more under the Goondas Act?

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Thursday, Feb 10, 2005

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Will there be more under the Goondas Act?

By V. Jayanth

CHENNAI, FEB. 9. The number of accused in the Sankararaman murder case who have also been detained under the Goondas Act has now touched 16. The special investigation team, which probed the murder of the Kancheepuram Varadarajaperumal temple manager, arrested 25 persons in connection with the case and has already filed the charge sheet in the local Magistrate's court. Copies of the charge sheet will be given to the accused in Kancheepuram on Thursday.

The detenus under the Goondas Act fall into three categories — those from the Kanchi Sankara mutt, the main accused who are alleged to have conspired and executed the dastardly crime, and those who arranged for "fake surrenders," including those who actually surrendered to the police.

Leading the pack are the Sankara mutt's manager, Sundaresa Iyer, and Raghu, brother of the junior Sankaracharya, Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi. Both have been charged with playing a major role in the killing, including in the distribution of cash to the killer gang. The manager has also been accused of tampering with accounts.

Among the main accused, eight persons have been detained under the Goondas Act. Appu alias Krishnasamy heads this group and though there was speculation that he would offer a confessional statement under Section 164 or even turn approver, it did not happen. Instead, he was booked under the Goondas Act last week. This list includes Kathiravan, who is alleged to have arranged the hirelings for the murder; he retracted his confession statement.

A third category of detenus are those who allegedly arranged for the "fake surrenders" along with the "proxy surrenderees."

The question that has arisen is: will the investigating team stop with these 16 detentions under the Goondas Act or will there be more? Though investigators indicate that there may not be any more Goondas Act detenus from this case, it is not ruled out altogether. Even after the trial begins, it is possible to book some of the accused under these provisions, if the police want to.

Preventive detention

But why did the special investigation team resort to detentions under this Act, when most of the accused in the Sankararaman murder case have been charged under Section 302 (murder) or even for conspiracy? According to senior police officers, this is normally a preventive detention measure to keep "habitual offenders" in custody. Known in full as the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug-offenders, Forest-offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders and Slum-grabbers Act, 1982, it lays down stringent provisions that can deny bail to them. Some of the accused in the Sankararaman murder case have already been denied bail as they have also been detained under the Goondas Act.

A "Goonda," as defined under the Act means a person who, either by himself or as a member of or leader of a gang, habitually commits or attempts to commit or abets the commission of offences punishable under Chapter XVI or Chapter XVII or Chapter XXII of the Indian Penal Code 1860.

The maximum period of detention under this Act "shall be twelve months" from the date of detention.

The normal period of detention may be three months, but a State Advisory Board is empowered to review the detention on a case-by-case basis. Every such board consists of a Chairman and two other members, who are or have been Judges of any High Court or who are qualified under the Constitution of India to be appointed as Judges of a High Court.

The Act has provided that in every case where a detention order has been issued under it, the State Government shall "within three weeks from the date of detention of a person" place before the Board the grounds on which the order has been made and the representation, if any, made by the person affected.

Aside from the stipulated procedure through the Advisory Board, a detained person can also approach the High Court through a Habeas Corpus petition.

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