Madurai: The Madras High Court here yesterday chided the Tamil Nadu Home Secretary for not giving a response to the court pertaining to making protection of witnesses statutory.
Giving the Home Secretary another chance to give the reply, Justice N Kirubakaran adjourned the matter to September 19 and ordered that the official should file a report before the court, otherwise it would take the matter seriously.
Due to absence of protection to witnesses, the Judge had earlier expressed serious concern about the decline in the rate of conviction in heinous crime cases and directed the Home Secretaries of the state and central governments, the Tamil Nadu DGP and the union government's Law Commission Secretary to explain the measures available to protect the witnesses.
The judge had given the direction while hearing a petition filed by Tilakavathy, whose husband Karthikeyan, an advocate, was hacked to death by one Nagu and 13 others a few years ago, seeking transfer of the case from Additional District and Sessions Court in Pudukottai district.
Suman, the prime witness in the case, was threatened and forced to turn hostile by the accused on April 3 this year when he was examined in the court, the petitioner said.
Suman had earlier given a complaint to the inspector of police of Kantharvakottai stating that he was kidnapped by three accused in the murder case.
Making his observations, the Judge had said irrespective of the allegations made in the case, it is a very dangerous situation in which witnesses are threatened and made hostile to get the acquittal of the accused.
“Therefore, the witness protection is one of the important issues in criminal cases.
Otherwise, the administration of criminal justice would continue to be in danger and it is not good for society, the judge had stated.
“Heinous crimes like murders and kidnapping are increasing in the last 20 years throughout the country.
Therefore, time has come to examine the condition by the concerned governments very seriously and take appropriate steps to safeguard and protect the witnesses,” the judge had said.
