Chennai: The Madras High Court on Wednesday dismissed a PIL seeking a direction to CB-CID to arrest army
personnel in connection with the killing of a 13-year-old boy,
describing it as a "publicity interest litigation".
The bench also said the army personnel should
cooperate in the investigation into the death of Dilshan who
died of gunshot wounds received when he trespassed into the
army officers residential complex here last Sunday.
The First Bench, comprising Chief Justice M Y Eqbal
and Justice T S Sivagnanam, said, "The petitioner, who
designed this writ petition as a public interest litigation,
does not know as to who has killed the boy.
"The only fact is that the boy was killed near the
army personnel`s residence. On this fact, a mandamus has been
sought for directing the CB-CID to immediately arrest the army
personnel responsible for the killing of the young boy," the
bench said.
The bench found that prima facie it was not a public
interest litigation but a publicity interest litigation.
In the PIL, advocate P Pugalenthi said the culprit had
not been nabbed even after two days after the incident and the
process of investigation was "surprisingly slow".
He submitted that just because army personnel were
involved in the crime, it cannot be treated lightly.
When the matter came up for hearing, the petitioner`s
counsel sought a direction to CB-CID to immediately arrest the
army personnel responsible for the killing.
Advocate General A Navaneethakrishnan told the court
that investigation was going on and all steps had been taken
to find out the culprit.
Additional Solicitor General M Ravindran also
submitted that police had taken all steps and the Army
personnel were cooperating with the investigation.
PTI
