A petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Friday seeking direction to restrain Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palswamy from holding the home portfolio till the completion of investigation and trial in the father-son custodial death case.
The petition sought directions to the investigation officer, Crime Branch of Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID), to probe the role of the Chief Minister in screening and safeguarding the accused police personnel at the initial stage by giving an open press statement on June 24.
Advocate A Rajarajan moved the plea, which said that on June 24 the Chief Minister, who also holds the portfolio of the Ministry of Home Affairs in the state, gave a public statement in a press meet that the deceased persons died due to illness and thereby ruled out foul play in the deaths.
It said that Palswamy's June 24 statement is "highly improper, condemnable and contrary to law".
"The statement given by Palswamy was with the purpose to safeguard the accused persons and thereby to prevent any adverse remark about his government since the accused persons were coming under the ministry held by him and to substantiate these allegations that Palswamy actively involved to screen and safeguard the offenders of custodial torture can be construed from the outcome of the CBI-CID investigation," the plea said.
It claimed that the family members of the deceased persons alleged they were subjected to severe physical torture by the police personnel belonging to sathankulam police station before remanding them in a criminal.
The plea said the family has further alleged that the cause of death of the deceased persons was due to the severe injuries inflicted by the police personnel when they were in the pre remand custody.
The matter pertains to the custodial deaths of a father-son duo, P Jayaraj and Bennix, after being arrested by Sathankulam Police in Thoothukudi district of the state.
( With inputs from ANI )