Judge comes under SHRC scrutiny for driver’s death

A fast track court judge in Namakkal has come under the scrutiny of the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) following a controversy over th...

A fast track court judge in Namakkal has come under the scrutiny of the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) following a controversy over the death of his driver in alleged police custody.

While police claimed that the judge’s chauffeur, Viswanathan, had consumed poison, his relatives allege that he was tortured to death in custody after being picked up on a theft complaint from the judge.

The investigation by the SHRC comes close on the heels of a report of a fact-finding team of civil liberties organisation Peoples’ Watch indicting the judge, R. Duraisamy, and three police officers for their alleged role in the incident.

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However, Duraisamy summarily denied all allegations and maintained that Viswanathan had confessed to stealing Rs 4.5 lakh from his wife. When he refused to return the money, the police were called, he said.

The Peoples Watch’ report — ‘‘based on interviews with the judge, his wife, police, relatives of the driver and eyewitnesses’’ — claimed that Viswanathan was illegally detained and questioned at the judge’s house for three days. Later, he was handed to police who allegedly tortured him for six days at the Namakkal police station till he died.