TAMIL NADU DGP MOVED SC AGAINST MADRAS HC ORDER TO TRANSFER THANJAVUR GIRL SUICIDE CASE 

The Tamil Nadu Director-General of Police (DGP) moved to the Top Court against the order of the Madras High Court ( Madurai Bench). The HC transferred the investigation of the suicide of Thanjavur girl Lavanya to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The DGP, through a special leave petition (SLP) before the top Court, argued that the HC erred in assigning the probe to the CBI. The plea also sought directions from the SC to delete the remarks made by the HC against the State Police. 

Justice GR Swaminathan of the Madras HC transferred the probe to CBI after observing that the investigation conducted by the state police was not proceeding on the right lines, especially since a high-ranking minister was taking a stand on the matter. 

BACKGROUND 

Lavanya consumed pesticides in the school hostel. The judicial magistrate had recorded her dying declaration. In January 2016, in her police statement and before the judicial magistrate, the child directly and unambiguously accused the hostel warden of burdening her with non-academic chores. As a result, she consumed the pesticide. Based on the allegations, the hostel was booked for offenses under sections of the Indian penal code Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

Later, a private video involving the school’s correspondent began spreading on social media. When the same was brought before the Superintendent of Police, she informed a reporter that the religious conversion angle was not made out in the preliminary inquiry. This led to the father of the child losing faith in the investigation, and thus, he moved the HC.

Noting that there was nothing “intrinsically improbable” in the allegation that there was a conversion attempt, the single-judge observed that the matter called for an investigation into the claim’s veracity, not an outright rejection.

Author: Papiha Ghoshal