HC orders compensation to 5 persons for malicious prosecution

The Madras High Court today directed Tamilnadu government to pay a compensation of Rs two lakh each to five persons who were wrongly implicated in a 2012 murder case and kept in prison for more than 90 days.
Justice S Nagamuthu of the HC's Madurai bench held that the five persons were victims of malicious prosecution and the mental agony and other problems and they should be compensated suitably.
The order was given after the Ramanathapuram District Superintendent of Police, in his report after re-investigation of the case, submitted that the names of the five persons had been deleted from the final report because of lack of evidences against them.

Ordering a reinvestigation on petitions by the victims, the court had earlier directed the SP to supervise the case.
He said the cheque/DD for the compensation amount should be handed over to them in the presence of Free Legal Aid Cell Secretary of Ramanathapuram District Court.
The five, along with four others, were arrested in connection with the burning to death of six persons at Thoppuvalasai in Ramanathapuram on October 1, 2012.