TN: Rights violation can tarnish career

Chennai, Oct 4: Human Rights violators, beware. Your actions can tarnish your career.

Till now, offenders had to just pay a compensation and face a departmental probe. The Tamil Nadu State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has gone a step further and ordered the government to attach a copy of its orders to the provident fund/service register of the violators.

The recipients of the punishment well Chenniyan, the then sub-inspector of police (crime) and Ranganathan, inspector of police, both attached to the Vaniyambadi police station.

Chenniyan and Ranganathan were also asked to shell out Rs 40,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively to Rukmaniammal for allegedly torturing her and her son and foisting a prohibition case upon the latter.

According to the complaint, she went to the District-Munsiff-cum-Judicial Magistrate Court in Vaniyambadi along with her three sons, including the youngest one, Mohan, on February 20, 2003 in connection with a pending case.

When Magistrate A Radhakrishnan was passing by on the veranda of the court hall, Mohan stood up and wished him with folded hands, saying vanakkam ayyah'. However, the magistrate felt that Mohan was drunk, so he directed the taluk police to arrest him.

Chenniyan arrested Mohan and slapped a false prohibition case on him. He was later remanded in judicial custody. After 21 days in jail, Mohan was granted bail by the Madras High Court.

''After taking into consideration the gravity, veracity and velocity of the nature of violation of human rights committed against Mohan and the social status and background of the family and other important aspects, this commission recommends Rs 50,000 as compensation,'' the panel comprising AR Selvakumar and Dr S Paramasivam observed.

UNI