Has impact on institution at large: Madras High Court denies bail to office assistant for attempting to stab judicial officer

The Madras High Court on Wednesday refused to grant bail to a judicial officer’s office assistant who attempted to stab him on being unhappy with a transfer order [Prakash A v the State]..Justice N Anand Venkatesh opined that if the petitioner was granted bail at this stage, it would have a serious impact on the mind of judicial officers, resulting in them not feeling comfortable issuing transfer orders or initiating disciplinary proceedings against their staff.“Such an attack has an impact on the institution at large and hence it has to be dealt with utmost seriousness,” the order recorded..The alleged incident took place when the petitioner was said to be enraged by a transfer order, and armed with a knife, attempted to stab the judicial officer who he believed was responsible for the issuance of the order..The petitioner had moved the High Court on the grounds that the investigation was complete, and the final report had already been filed by the police. However, the plea was opposed by the State, claiming that the petitioner’s enlargement on bail would have a very serious impact on the institution, and such acts could not be taken lightly..The single judge found himself uninclined towards granting bail to the petitioner since the incident could not be seen as merely an attack on an individual, but one on the entire institution..However, the Court directed the sessions court to conduct proceedings in the case on a day-to-day basis and to complete the trial in six weeks."Since the final report has already been filed and it is at the stage of committal, this Court is inclined to issue directions to the trial Court to complete the proceedings within the time limit fixed by this Court."With this, the petition was dismissed..Advocate B Mohan appeared for the petitioner while the respondent was represented by government advocate S Santhosh..[Read Order]