SC Seeks CBI Response On 'Attack' Pandi's Plea To Suspend Life Sentence In Dinakaran Attack Case

The Supreme Court on Friday sought the response of the Central Bureau of Investigation on an application filed by V Pandi @ 'Attack' Pandi- a notorious rowdy from Madurai- seeking to suspend his life sentence in the 'Dinakaran' attack case of 2007, which resulted in the murder of three persons.

Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for Pandi, told a bench headed by Chief Justice of India that Pandi had been in jail for nearly two years.

The CJI said that interim bail cannot be considered without the response of the CBI. Two weeks time has been granted to the agency to respond.

The case related to the attack carried out against the Madurai office of 'Dinakaran' newspaper in 2007. The attack was allegedly over certain reports against MK Azhagiri. Dinakaran conducted a survey that showed most people wanted M. K. Stalin to succeed Karunamidhi as DMK leader. Elder brother M. K. Azhagiri was sidelined. This led Pandi, as Azhagiri's aide, to rally his supporters and attack Dinakaran's Madurai offices.

In 2009, the trial court acquitted 17 persons, including Pandi, citing lack of evidence.

The acquittal was reversed by a division bench of the Madras High Court in March 2019. Allowing the appeals filed by the CBI, a division bench comprising Justice PN Prakash and Justice B. Pugalendhi sentenced nine persons, including 'Attack' Pandi to life imprisonment.

Although there were many photographs covering the incident including the faces of the accused, the Trial Court would not take them into account because no witness came into the witness box and looked at the photographs and identified the persons in the photographs and videos as the accused who were standing in the dock.

The bench faulted this logic adopted by the Trial Judge. Instead of making a witness look at the photograph and identify the person in the dock, nothing prevented the Trial Judge to use his own eyes to see the person standing in the dock and the person seen in the photographs/videos and arrive at a just conclusion, the court said.

Photographers Turned Hostile, But Photos Spoke For Themselves: How Madras HC Convicted Dinakaran Newspaper Office Attack Accused? [Read Judgment]