Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi   

Speedy judgement

Syed Muthahar Saqaf

TIRUCHI: The cooperation between the prosecution and the defence has enabled the district court in ensuring the fundamental right of an accused for speedy justice in a murder case.

Little would R. Suresh, working at a coffin manufacturing unit in Tiruchi, have thought that a push would turn out to be a fatal fall for his friend, Mathan.

Following the incident, on August 21, Suresh was charged with murder and arrested the next day.

But, timely delivery of justice, within a span of 10 days, resulted in him being absolved of the murder charge. The Palakkarai police filed the charge-sheet in the court of Judicial Magistrate V on August 24, and a copy of the charge-sheet was served on the accused the next day. The case was committed to the Sessions Court on August 29, and eight witnesses were examined on August 30. The verdict was delivered on August 31.

According to the prosecution, Mathan had borrowed Rs. 1,000 from Suresh and did not return the money despite repeated requests. The latter had insisted on immediate repayment of the money.

When Mathan expressed his inability, Suresh attacked him on the former's chest causing a fatal fall. The victim died after sustaining a fracture in the scalp.

During the hearing in the Sessions Court, the defence counsel argued that the cause of the death of Mathan was not due to the attack on the chest, but due to the head injury.

The prosecution too endorsed the view saying that Suresh could be held responsible only for the act of fisting over the eye-brow, kicking and stamping over the chest, under Sec. 323 IPC (causing hurt).

The Principal Sessions Judge, S. Vimala, observed that both Mathan and Suresh were friends.

The accused had no premeditation or pre-planning to murder Mathan. There was no intention or motive for him to kill Mathan. ``The incident had taken place on the spur of the moment and the accused having lost his senses in ferocity caused injuries''. The Sessions Judge absolved Suresh of the murder charge and acquitted him. However, he was found guilty under Sec. 323 IPC and was slapped with a one-year rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 500.

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