Highlighting how the 13 accused in the 2019 sensational Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) functionary Ramalingam murder case had been prolonging the trial by using every trick in the book, the Madras High Court has lamented that the blame for keeping undertrials in prison for years together always went to the criminal justice delivery system.
“None will have the patience to pore over trial court records to find out who was actually responsible for the delay,” wrote a Division Bench of Justices P.N. Prakash and R.M.T. Teekaa Raman while dismissing an appeal preferred by 10 of the 13 accused against denial of bail by a Special Court for National Investigation Agency (NIA) cases.
The Bench pointed out that the deceased, V. Ramalingam of Tirubuvanam in Thanjavur district, was in the business of renting out vessels for marriages and other events. According to the prosecution, he and his son R. Shyam Sunder had witnessed a group of Muslim men proselytise Hindus to Islam on February 5, 2019.
