The Madras High Court on Friday, September 29, 2023 dismissed all criminal appeals filed against the conviction and sentences imposed by a trial court in 2011 against a host of officials from the forest, police and revenue departments for the atrocities committed on the residents Vachathi tribal village in Dharmapuri district in 1992.
Justice P. Velmurugan confirmed the conviction as well as punishment ranging from one to seven years of rigorous impirosnment imposed by Dharmapuri Principal Sessions Judge S. Kumaraguru on September 29, 2011. The convicts include Indian Forest Service (IFS) officials who had raided the village for smuggled sandalwood.
