Awarded life for killing colleagues, CISF cop earns reprieve from Madras HC

Singh’s medical records showed that the appellant was under treatment of a psychiatrist from 2012 for mental disorder and that he was put on anti-psychotic tablets, noted he bench comprising Justice PN Prakash and Justice RN Manjula. 

“The case of the appellant, Vijay Pratap Singh, falls within the exception contained in section 84 (act of a person of an unsound mind) of the Indian Penal Code,” the bench said while quashing the conviction by the additional district and sessions judge, Chengalpattu. 

The court also ordered the State government to shift him to the Government Mental Hospital, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, as it is his native State and he has no one in Tamil Nadu to take care of him. “The rights of a mentally ill person recognised under Sections 19 and 20 of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, would be better protected if the appellant is transmitted to his parent State of Uttar Pradesh. We notice that Rule 10 of the Mental Healthcare (Rights of Persons with Mental Illness) Rules, 2018, enables the transfer of a prisoner to a mental health establishment outside Tamil Nadu,” the bench pointed out. 

The Home Secretary was directed to do the needful to ensure his safe transmission to the hospital in Uttar Pradesh, the court said, while also asking the secretary, District Legal Services Authority, Chengalpattu, to ensure disbursement of compensation to the families of the victims. 

‘A sum of Rs 3 lakh each should be given to the widows of deceased CISF personnel, Mohan Singh, Subburaj and Ganesan. Also, Rs 2 lakh each should be compensated to the victims, Govardhana Prasad and Pratap Singh, under Rule 5 of the Victim Compensation Scheme, 2013, by the Tamil Nadu government,” it directed. 

The incident happened on October 8, 2014, when Singh opened fire on his colleagues in the wee hours, killing Mohan Singh, Subburaj and Ganesan on the spot while Govardhana Prasad and Pratap Singh survived with serious injuries. After the sessions judge awarded him life imprisonment, he challenged the order stating that the trial court did not consider his medical records. 

“The sessions court had brushed aside the medical reports which would establish that he suffered from mental illness that would bring his case within the general exception contained in Section 84 IPC,” his advocate submitted.