A petition has been filed before the Madras High Court claiming that S Dashwanth, the sole accused in a 2017 child rape and murder case, had lied about clearing a mandatory procedural step before moving the Supreme Court seeking an acquittal [Venkatesh v. State].
Notably, the appeal had eventually led to the Supreme Court acquitting Dashwanth in 2025.
A lawyer named Venkatesh S has now filed a public interest litigation (PIL) before the High Court questioning the manner in which the appeal was filed. The PIL claims that that the Supreme Court allowed Dashwanth to challenge his conviction after being told that the Madras High Court had granted him leave to file the appeal.
The petitioner has relied on a Right to Information (RTI) reply from the High Court Registry to say that no such certificate for appeal had been issued.
In light of this, the petitioner has now challenged the State government's failure to file a curative petition before the Supreme Court to reconsider the decision.
A Bench of Justices GR Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayana today sought the State's response to the PIL. The Court also impleaded the Director General of Police and the inspector of the relevant station.
The case is expected to come up for hearing next week.
Venkatesh urged the Court to direct the State's Home Department to file a curative petition before the Supreme Court against the acquittal of Dashwanth.
Notably, a review petition filed by the State in the matter challenging the correctness of the acquittal order has already been dismissed by the Supreme Court.
The case concerns a child who went missing from her apartment complex on February 5, 2017. Her parents had gone out shopping. When they returned around 7:15 PM, she was not at home. A search was carried out with the help of neighbours and the police were informed.
Her father lodged a complaint the same night at Mangadu Police Station. A missing person case was initially registered. According to the prosecution, CCTV footage from a nearby temple led the police to suspect Dashwanth. He was arrested on February 8, 2017.
The police claimed that he made a disclosure statement, based on which the child’s charred body was recovered.
The trial court convicted Dashwanth on February 19, 2018 for offences under the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. He was given the death penalty. The Madras High Court confirmed the conviction and death sentence on July 10, 2018.
When the case first reached the Supreme Court, it issued limited notice on April 8, 2019 only on the question of sentence. It also stayed the execution of the death penalty.
However, on February 6, 2025, a Bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta recalled the April order.
The Bench recorded that the High Court, while dismissing Dashwanth’s appeal and confirming the death reference, had granted leave to appeal on a request made by his counsel.
Dashwanth's counsel had submitted that the matter had been mistakenly filed as a special leave petition under Article 136 of the Constitution. He said it should have been filed as a criminal appeal under Article 134(1)(c), since leave had already been granted by the High Court.
The Supreme Court accepted the submission. It recalled its April 8, 2019 order and directed the Registry to register the matter as an appeal under Article 134(1)(c). At the time, the Court also allowed Dashwanth to raise additional grounds on lack of fair and effective trial.
The apex court eventually acquitted Dashwanth on October 8, 2025. It found serious infirmities in the prosecution case and the conduct of the trial.
Advocate SN Ravichandran appeared for Venkatesh.