In a setback to Union minister M.K. Alagiri, the Madras high court on Thursday refused to discharge the DMK strongman and his three associates from an assault case rejecting their plea that there was no case since the alleged “victim” had withdrawn his complaint.
Even though the complainant, a tahsildar on poll duty who had earlier complained that he was roughed up by the minister’s men in his presence because he got a videographer to record their visit to a temple at Keelavalavu near here during electioneering on April 1, other factors like the eyewitness accounts and the video-recording, must be taken into account, the Madurai bench of the high court held.
Hearing the petitions from Mr Alagiri, Madurai corporation deputy mayor P.M. Mannan and two other DMK functionaries for quashing the assault case, Justice R.S. Ramanathan said the court cannot entertain the plea as the police FIR had listed cognizable offences against them. The police had filed the case based on the incident as narrated by eyewitnesses and backed by video-recording, said the judge dismissing Mr Alagiri’s petition on merits. The other petitions were dismissed as withdrawn.
In their quash petition, Mr Alagiri and associates claimed that the tahsildar was forced by Madurai district collector U. Sagayam to lodge the false complaint against them.