Madras HC grants bail to ABVP ex-national prez accused of harassment

Dr Subbiah Shanmugam was accused of throwing used mask inside the gate of his neighbour and urinating in front of his residence due to enmity.

Chennai:The Madras High Court on Monday granted interim bail to Dr Subbiah Shanmugam, the former national president of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), who was arrested on March 19 in connection with a case registered against him by the city police in July 2020.

Justice G Jayachandran granted the interim relief, when the bail application from Dr Subbiah, the head of Oncology department in Government Stanley Hospital came up for hearing today. According to his counsel RC Paul Kanakaraj, one Balaji Vijayaraghavan had lodged a complaint with the Adambakkam police on July 25, 2020 alleging that the petitioner, due to enmity, had thrown used mask inside the gate and urinated in front of his residence.

A case had been registered under Sections 271 and 427 of the IPC and Sec. 4 of TN Prevention of Harassment of Women Act. Two years later, Sec. 3 of Tamil Nadu Public Property (Prevention of Damages and Loss) Act was included in the FIR. He was arrested on March 19, a public holiday. Kanakaraj added that the dispute between the complainant and the petitioner was amicably settled long ago, but the arrest has taken place on the pressure of the men in power, since the petitioner is an office-bearer of the students organisation. He was arrested on a public holiday to detain him for more than 48 hours and thereby invoke the Conduct Rules to place him under suspension, Kanakaraj added.

After finding patent error in the arrest of the petitioner leading to violation of his fundamental rights and that error has been committed with an ulterior motive to take departmental action and place him under suspension, the judge granted the relief. Since the arrest itself was made apparently and erroneously, the same will not give any ground for taking departmental action against this petitioner. "Therefore, this court grants interim bail to the petitioner. He should be released on his executing a personal bond for Rs 25,000 to the satisfaction of the Superintendent of Prison, Chengalpattu," the judge said.

Since the Additional Public Prosecutor requested time to file counter and the court was also eager to know what prompted the Investigating Officer to arrest a person on a public holiday based on the complaint given nearly two years ago, the matter may be listed on March 24, the judge added.

(PTI)