Madras HC seeks affidavit on pending cases against Anna University harassment case accused
Advocate GS Mani on behalf of the petitioner submitted that the Chennai city police commissioner had made a submission that the accused had been charged with 20 such cases and he is a history-sheeter.
Madras High Court (File)
CHENNAI:The Madras High Court directed the State to file an affidavit with the case details pending against Gnanasekaran, the accused in the Anna University sexual harassment case, in a plea seeking probe under an independent agency.
The first division bench of Chief Justice KR Shriram and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq heard the public interest litigation moved by advocate A Mohandoss, alleging that Gnanasekaran is a habitual sexual offender and nearly 20 criminal cases were registered against him, of which 15 are still pending.
Advocate GS Mani on behalf of the petitioner submitted that the Chennai city police commissioner had made a submission that the accused had been charged with 20 such cases and he is a history-sheeter.
The chief justice asked the advocate where the statement of the commissioner was annexed in the case papers. Since it was not enclosed, the court directed the State to file an affidavit with the details of the cases pending against the accused and posted the matter to June 12, for further proceedings.
Additional Advocate General J Ravindran objected to the plea and submitted that the petitioner had moved a plea with a similar request earlier and the State has no hesitation to take action, he said. All the cases filed against the accused are not related to harassment of women, the AAG said, submitting that the petitioner shouldn't use the PIL proceedings for publicity.
The petitioner alleged that Gnanasekaran had not only sexually assaulted the recent survivor but also committed similar offences against other girl students.
Since he was a member of the ruling DMK and held the post of deputy organising secretary of Saidapet East DMK student wing, he was roaming freely, and the police hands were tied, alleged the advocate.
Mohandoss sought the court's directive to transfer all the pending criminal cases against the sexual offender to the CBI or a special investigation team.
On December 23, Gnanasekaran videographed a girl and her boyfriend at an isolated spot inside the university campus, and used it to blackmail the girl and sexually assaulted her and recorded that too with an intention to blackmail her further. However, the girl lodged a complaint, leading to his arrest.
