MADURAI: Holding that a Magistrate cannot mechanically accept a police closure report, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has ordered a fresh investigation into the alleged attack on the men's hostel senior warden's car following anti-ragging action against students at Tirunelveli Medical College.

Allowing the Criminal Revision case, Justice L Victoria Gowri set aside the Judicial Magistrate's order accepting the police "undetected" or closure report and directed the Tirunelveli City Police Commissioner to entrust the investigation to a different officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police/Assistant Commissioner of Police under the supervision of a senior officer. The Court also directed the police to complete the investigation and file a final report within three months.

“This court is conscious of the limited scope of revisional jurisdiction. The revisional court doesn’t ordinarily interfere with every order passed by the learned Magistrate. However, where order suffers from non-application of mind, where relevant materials have not been considered, where the investigation appears incomplete, where the learned Magistrate has failed to exercise jurisdiction vested in law, the interference is justified," the Court said.

Observing that the present case is not one where the petitioner seeks the conviction of any named students by way of revision, the Justice said the limited prayer is for further investigation by a different competent officer under senior supervision.

The case relates to the plea over an alleged attack on the car of Dr Kannan Baba, the senior warden of the men's hostel at Tirunelveli Medical College Hostel in 2024.

The petitioner was entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring ragging activities. The attack followed a disciplinary action against final-year students in connection with the ragging of first-year students.

The police had filed an "undetected" report, which was accepted by the Magistrate before being challenged in the High Court.