The Madras High Court on Friday (January 12, 2024) agreed to hear on January 19, 2024 an appeal preferred by the Tamil Nadu police against the bail granted to Periyar University Vice Chancellor R. Jagannathan in a case booked against him under the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Justice C.V. Karthikeyan accepted a request made by Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) R. Muniyapparaj for an early hearing of the case and directed the High Court Registry to list the appeal on the second working day for the High Court after the Pongal holidays beginning from Saturday (January 13, 2024).
The APP told the judge that the appeal, against the bail granted by a judicial magistrate in Salem on December 26, 2023, was filed before the High Court during the Christmas vacation. Then, vacation judge Justice P. Dhanabal had called for a detailed report from the magistrate by January 12, 2024. However, the appeal had not been listed for hearing on Friday and hence the APP sought a direction to the Registry to list it at the earliest. He contended that the Magistrate had committed an error by refusing to remand the V-C and by granting conditional bail to him, in what is, a serious case.
The law officer stated that E. Elangovan, president of the Periyar University Labour Union, had lodged a complaint with Salem police accusing the V-C of having misused his office for private benefits by starting an entity named Periyar University Technology Entrepreneurship and Research (PUTER) Foundation. According to the complainant, the PUTER foundation had been allotted space inside the university campus without the approval of the Senate or the Syndicate. When this irregularity was questioned, the V-C used slur words referring to his caste, the complainant alleged.
Mr. Elangovan had also accused the V-C of having misappropriated a huge amount of money through the foundation. Therefore, the police had registered a case under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code as well as the SC/ST (PoA) Act and the investigation was taken up by an Assistant Commissioner of Police.
The V-C was arrested on December 26, 2023 but the Magistrate refused to remand him and ordered his release on condition bail which had been assailed in the present appeal.
