India’s Madras high court has directed the state government to initiate departmental proceedings against the officials responsible for the inadvertent release of two Sri Lankan nationals who entered the country illegally though the court had directed to deport them.

A division bench of Justices S Vaidyanathan and N Anand Venkatesh passed the order while hearing the pending habeas corpus petitions filed by the two Sri Lankans, Sanga Sirantha and Mohammed Saffras, seeking their deportation back to Sri Lanka. 

The central and state governments submitted that both of them had left the country and surrendered before the chief magistrate court in Colombo on September 10.

Additional advocate general K Chellapandian stated that investigation was under way in a case registered by the Pamban police against some people who helped the two Sri Lankan nationals flee from India. 

He further submitted that disciplinary proceedings had been initiated and a show cause notice issued to the investigation officer of Kenikarai police station in this regard. 

The judges observed that it is clear that the duo had reached Sri Lanka and surrendered before the court. The only thing that is to be done in the case is initiate departmental proceedings against the errant officials whose negligence helped the criminals to escape from India. 

Hence the judges directed the state government to complete the disciplinary proceedings against the officials and also the investigation of the case registered by Pamban police within three months. The case was adjourned to February 28 for reporting compliance.

The two Lankans who were involved in murder, rape and gang war in Sri Lanka, had come to India to escape punishment. On February 28, Kenikarai police in Ramanathapuram district arrested and got them remanded in judicial custody for entering the country without valid documents. 

During the hearing, the court sought a status report from the Ramanathapuram judicial magistrate II regarding the case and subsequently directed to deport the duo to Sri Lanka. Since the Kenikarai police filed a withdrawal petition, the Ramanathapuram JM II discharged the duo from the case on August 13. 

When the order was communicated, the SP of the Puzhal central prison misconstrued it as if to release the Sri Lankan nationals on bail and accordingly released them from prison on August 18.

Source: Times of India

-Agencies