Continued Incarceration Unwarranted Where Bail Was Denied On False Allegations: Madras HC [Read Order]

Madurai: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Principal Sessions Judge, Sivagangai, to hold a special sitting to hear the bail petitions of two villagers arrested in a case over the removal of cement culvert pipes laid without permission across a water catchment area, after noting that the police official admitted before it that no damage had been caused to solar panels, which had been projected before the Sessions Court.

A Division Bench of Justice G.R. Swaminathan and Justice B. Pugalendhi passed the order on 09.10.2026 in WP(MD) No. 29140 of 2026, a writ petition filed by villagers of Ammapatti and Nagappanpatti, Thiruppathur Taluk, Sivagangai District, seeking a mandamus to remove an alleged encroachment in Survey No. 728 and to restore the natural inflow and outflow of water to three water bodies, namely Chinnakosavan Kanmoi, Periyakosavan Kanmoi and Potta Kanmoi.

According to the petitioners, a commercial entity known as Kwality Shutters, through the fifth respondent, installed solar panels over 65 acres of patta land after obtaining permission, and formed a mud road to access the land, cutting across the water catchment area contiguous to the tank, with cement pipes laid beneath it to allow vehicles to pass. It was conceded that the road and the culvert pipes were made without permission from the authorities. The villagers agitated against the work, and a criminal case was registered, in which two persons remained in jail, leading the bench to implead the jurisdictional police suo motu on 08.10.2026.

Government counsel for the police told the court that Crime No. 105 of 2026 was registered on 15.09.2026 at the Keelasevalpatti Police Station under Sections 191(2), 296(2) and 395(2) of the BNS, 2023 and Section 3 of the Tamil Nadu Property (Prevention of Damage and Loss) Act, 1992. Natarajan and Xavier Kennedy were arrested on 23.09.2026 and remanded to judicial custody until 13.10.2026, and their bail petition in Cr.M.P. No. 2593 of 2026 was dismissed on 06.10.2026 by the Principal Sessions Judge, Sivagangai, while an anticipatory bail petition by the co-accused was also dismissed on the same date.

The bench noted that what loomed large before the Sessions Court was the allegation that solar panels worth Rs. 10 lakhs had been damaged. Asked a direct question, the instructing police official frankly admitted that no damage had been caused to the solar panels and that only the cement culvert pipes were damaged, which, the court observed, were admittedly installed in the tank bund area without any permission from any authority. It recorded that the villagers wanted the administration to act, that the administration remained indifferent and silent, and that the villagers then removed the pipes on their own.

The court said it might not be able to condone that act, but asked for how long the villagers should wait and whether the citizenry can be blamed for acting on their own when the official machinery fails. It stated that it had no doubt that the continued incarceration of the two individuals was not warranted, more so because their bail petitions had been dismissed by projecting falsehood before the Sessions Court.

Observing that it did not have the bail roster and could not straightaway grant relief, the bench held that it could exercise its supervisory jurisdiction under Article 227 of the Constitution of India, citing Shailini Shyam Shetty v. Rajendra Shankar Patil on the High Court's power of superintendence, which may be exercised suo motu in an appropriate case to promote public confidence in the administration of justice. It also extensively quoted Arnab Goswami v. State of Maharashtra, including the principle of "bail, not jail" and the observation that deprivation of liberty even for a single day is one day too many.

The court observed that it was the duty of courts to ensure that the system commands public confidence, and that a group of rustic villagers espousing the cause of the environment might have gone overboard and taken the law into their own hands, but had damaged only something illegally installed. It added that if such persons were made to languish in jail on false allegations, it would stifle even genuine activism.

The Principal Sessions Judge, Sivagangai, was directed to hold a special sitting at 11.00 a.m. on the next day, 10.10.2026, to hear the bail petition to be filed on behalf of Natarajan and Xavier Kennedy, with the jurisdictional police represented by the Assistant Public Prosecutor, and to dispose of it by that afternoon. The court said it refrained from indicating the outcome on grounds of judicial propriety, but expressed confidence that the Assistant Public Prosecutor would make amends by properly placing the facts. 

The Registry was directed to communicate the order immediately, and the case was listed on 12.10.2026 at 4.40 p.m. for reporting compliance.

Appearances:

For the Petitioners: Mr. K. Navaneetharaja, Advocate.

For the Respondents: Ms. M.R. Priyanka Jothi, Government Advocate, for Respondent Nos. 1 to 3; Mr. A. Shanmugam, Government Advocate, for Respondent No. 4; Mr. S. Srinivasa Raghavan, Government Advocate, for Respondent No. 5; and Mr. I. Murugesan, Government Advocate, for Respondent No. 6.

Case Title: Baskaran and Others vs. The District Collector/Monitoring Committee, Sivagangai District and Others, WP(MD) No. 29140 of 2026

[Read Order]