Apr 30, 2025 07:38 AM IST
Justice P Velmurugan passed the orders on a criminal appeal filed by police in 2023 against the Salem judicial magistrate refusing to remand the V-C to judicial custody and granting him bail
The Madras high court on Tuesday said that if Periyar University vice chancellor R Jagannathan did not cooperate in the investigation of a case registered against him under the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, or attempted to tamper with the evidence, the Tamil Nadu police was allowed to arrest him.
Justice P Velmurugan passed the orders on a criminal appeal filed by the state police in 2023 against the Salem judicial magistrate refusing to remand the vice-chancellor to judicial custody and granting him bail.
The judge said that while the judicial magistrate can refuse to remand the accused, it did not have the jurisdiction to grant bail since only a trial court can conduct a trial against the accused for offences in SC/ST cases.
“In case he fails to cooperate or the prosecution finds that he is trying to tamper with the evidence, it is always open to the investigating officer to arrest the first respondent (vice-chancellor) and take him to judicial custody and complete the investigation in accordance with the law,” the justice said.
Jagannathan was arrested on December 26, 2023 on charges of allegedly starting a private firm inside the university campus and for misappropriating public funds. When this irregularity was questioned, the V-C used slur words referring to his caste, alleged the complainant, I Elangovan who claimed to be the president of the Association of University Teachers, legal adviser and social activist filed a complaint to the Salem police.
He alleged that the university’s V-C and the registrar, K Thangavel, along with three others, registered a company, Periyar University Technology Entrepreneurship and Research Foundation (PUTER FOUNDATION). Each of the accused was shown as a director and the official address of this company was shown to be inside the varsity. Also, a separate portion of land belonging to the university was allotted. He also alleged that this company was formed without obtaining any permission from the university and the government.
