SC orders Tamil Nadu DGP to probe into matter of police tutoring prosecution witnesses
New Delhi: The Supreme Court ordered the Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP) on Friday to make an enquiry into the conduct of the police officers who had allegedly tutored witnesses to depose against the accused and also take legal action against officers found guilty in the matter.
The Supreme Court bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mittal made the observations while hearing a petition challenging the Madras High Court and trial court verdicts convicting and sentencing two accused in a murder case from 2007. Examining the records of the trial court, the Justices noted that, a day prior to recording the evidence of five witnesses in the case, they were called to the police station and taught how to depose in a specific way.
Stating that the 'gross misuse of power by the police' was impermissible and stressing on the limits of power use by the police authorities, the bench said that the interference by police with the judicial process was shocking. "The Police cannot be allowed to tutor the prosecution witness. This conduct becomes more serious as other eyewitnesses, though available, were withheld," the Justices said.
The apex court bench also expressed surprise that the trial court and the Madras High Court overlooked the fact, which was a highly critical aspect, while deciding the case. The SC, therefore, asked the Tamil Nadu DGP to investigate the matter and necessary take legal action against erring officials.
Advocates G Sivabala Murugan, Mailysamy, Selvaraj Mahendran, C Adhikesavan, PV Hari Krishnan, P Soma Sundaram, R Nedumaran, B Ragunath, NC Kavitha and Vijay Kumar appeared for the accused and Senior Advocate Dr. Joseph Aristotle S and advocates Shubhi Bhardwaj and Vaidehi Rastogi appeared for the State of Tamil Nadu during the hearing of the petition.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
