Chennai, July 23 (IANS) The Madras High Court on Thursday agreed to urgently hear a petition filed by Vilathikulam DMK MLA G.V. Markandayan challenging the legality of his judicial remand following his arrest over alleged remarks threatening Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay.
Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan permitted the matter to be taken up through a lunch-motion hearing after the legislator’s counsel sought urgent intervention.
The petition seeks to quash the remand order passed by a judicial magistrate in Thoothukudi on July 20 and secure the MLA’s release on bail.
Markandayan was arrested by the Thoothukudi District Crime Branch (DCB) after a complaint alleging that he had declared during a public meeting that DMK legislators would “break the bones” of the Chief Minister inside the Legislative Assembly.
He has been in judicial custody since July 20 and was remanded until August 3.
In his petition before the High Court, the MLA argued that his arrest violated the safeguards provided under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
He contended that the police failed to explain why his arrest was necessary instead of issuing a notice under Section 41A of the BNSS, which permits the police to summon an accused for questioning in cases where arrest is not immediately warranted.
The plea further stated that the offences invoked against him carry a maximum punishment of seven years’ imprisonment and therefore did not automatically justify custodial arrest.
According to the petitioner, the investigating agency failed to place before the magistrate any material establishing the necessity of arrest before seeking judicial remand.
Markandayan also relied on the Supreme Court judgments in Arnesh Kumar vs State of Bihar (2014) and Satender Kumar Antil vs Central Bureau of Investigation (2022), which emphasise that police should ordinarily issue notices instead of making arrests in offences punishable with up to seven years unless there are compelling reasons.
The criminal case stems from a complaint lodged by S. Balasubramanian on July 19 over a speech delivered by the MLA at a DMK public meeting near the Krishnan Temple in Kovilpatti on July 18.
Based on the complaint, the DCB registered an FIR under Sections 351(3) (criminal intimidation), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 353(2) (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
While remanding the MLA to judicial custody, the magistrate cited the seriousness of the alleged speech and referred to the Supreme Court’s guidelines in the Arnesh Kumar case.
–IANS
aal/dpb