Dalit student suicide: Kerala HC suspects conspiracy by top cops to help accused professor Dr MK Ram

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday heavily criticised the State police for certain lapses that led a trial court to order the release of Dr M Kodanda Ram, a Kannur Dental College professor who was earlier arrested on allegations that he verbally harassed and drove Dalit student Nithin Raj to die by suicide.

The police's failure to communicate the grounds of arrest to Dr. Ram had led a trial court to declare his arrest illegal and order his release.

Justice A Badharudeen today expressed that senior police officials appear to have have conspired to ensure Dr Ram's release.

"This Court strongly doubts involvement of top officials of the police also in this scam to save the accused from detention prima facie," recorded the Court in an interim order passed today.

During the hearing, the Court questioned the State police on how an investigating officer of the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police could fail to communicate the grounds of arrest, a mandatory safeguard laid down by the Supreme Court.

"This is not his own action. This appears to be an action followed by the top officials of the State Police as part of a large conspiracy hatched to save the accused from detention ... Advise the department itself to investigate the large-scale conspiracy, including the top officials of the State Police. Otherwise, this Court may step in," Justice Badharudeen observed orally.

The Court added that the police appears to have tried avoiding the arrest of Dr. Ram for as long as possible.

"You followed the accused to the places where he absconded, stayed along with him, enjoyed his benefits, and ultimately did everything to avoid his arrest. After this Court and the SC dismissed the anticipatory bail pleas, you had no option but to arrest him. Thereafter, you waited for his surrender and recorded it as an arrest," the Justice Badharudeen said.

When the public prosecutor submitted that another competent police officer would be appointed to lead the investigation, the Court asked why disciplinary proceedings had not been initiated against the present investigating officer.

"Justice is denied to a family belonging to the weaker section whose rights are protected by a special enactment ... Why is such a police force there in this State; to harm the poor and protect the rich? ... This is done by a DySP. A totally incompetent man. Who gave promotion to this officer? He is not alone. It appears to be a large conspiracy involving top police officials," Justice Badharudeen remarked.

The Court was hearing a plea filed by Nithin Raj's parents, who sought clarity on the scope of Supreme Court's directions requiring the grounds of arrest to be communicated to the accused.

Appearing for the parents, advocate A Parvathi Menon today argued that, in the present case, the accused (Dr. Ram) had remained absconding for over hundred days and had unsuccessfully challenged his arrest before every forum up to the Supreme Court.

She submitted that he was fully aware of the allegations against him, even if all grounds of arrest had not been conveyed at the time of his arrest.

She added that the constitutional requirement to communicate grounds of arrest could not be stretched to require investigators to narrate every detail of the prosecution's case.

After hearing the parties, the Court, directed the investigating officer to appear before the Court on July 24.

The Court also ordered the production of all documents produced before the special court that had ordered Dr. Ram's release. Further, the Court has also sought an affidavit regarding compliance with the Supreme Court's directions on arrest formalities.

Nithin Raj, a dental college student in Kerala, died by suicide on April 10 after jumping from a building near the college. Before his demise, Raj is alleged to have faced caste-based harassment from the faculty at the dental college.

Dr. Ram, the head of the department at the dental college, is the prime accused in the case, booked for abetment of suicide and offences under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (SC/ST Act).

Dr Ram is being represented by advocates S Rajeev, V Vinay, MS Aneer, Anilkumar CR, Sarath KP, Dipa V, KS Kiran Krishnan, Akash Cherian Thomas, Azad Sunil, TP Aravind, Maheswar Padickal, Akshara S and Nivedita Rajeev.

[Live coverage]