Vengaivayal probe officer told to file fresh application for DNA test

Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the investigating officer in the Vengaivayal case to file a fresh application before the Pudukkottai Special Court.

Disposing of the petition filed by one of the eight persons who did not take the DNA test in connection with the Vengaivayal incident, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the investigating officer to file a fresh application before the Pudukkottai Special Court.

Justice G. Ilangovan directed that based on the application made by the officer, the Special Court shall issue notice and hear all the parties concerned and then pass orders. The court was hearing the petition that challenged the Pudukkottai Special Court’s direction to the petitioner and others to undergo the DNA test.

The petitioner, K. Muthukrishnan, who belongs to a Scheduled Caste, said the Special Court for Exclusive Trial of Cases under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act issued an order to collect blood samples from 11 persons and conduct the DNA tests. A resident of Vengaivayal, the petitioner said that in December last year, human faeces were found mixed in water in an overhead tank that supplied potable water to the Scheduled Caste families. He also complained that there were other forms of discrimination being practised in the village.

He said that following the incident, the local police had registered a case and subsequently the investigation was transferred to the CB-CID. However, there was no progress in the investigation. Under these circumstances, the Special Court had approved the request of the authorities and ordered the conduct of the tests. This was a violation of the right to privacy and reputation, he said.

The petitioner said he was a victim of the offence. However, the authorities were harassing him constantly under the pretext of an inquiry. Attempts were being made to divert the investigation instead of identifying the real culprits and the authorities were trying to frame the accused from the Scheduled Caste, he said.

The DNA test was approved for 11 persons and nine of them belonged to the Scheduled Caste. The authorities were trying to implicate the Scheduled Caste members as accused in the case, the petitioner said. He sought a direction to the authorities not to compel him to undergo the DNA test.