MADURAI: Lambasting police and a subordinate court for letting go Scott-free the authors of Dinakaran newspaper office arson case, that left three people dead in 2007, Madras high court reversed an order of acquittal and sentenced nine people to life imprisonment on Thursday. The convicts include 'Attack' Pandi, a former aide of ousted DMK leader M K Alagiri, and deputy superintendent of police Rajaram. However, in the case of the latter the court would disclose the quantum of jail term on March 25.The court further directed the Tamil Nadu government to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the bereaved within a period of three months.Citing that the trial court acquitted all the accused because almost every witness turned hostile, a division bench of justice P N Prakash and justice B Pugalendhi said it was unfortunate that the trial court had abdicated its judicial responsibility to seek the truth and, instead, deployed a specious line of reasoning to arrive at a verdict of acquittal.“If a witness becomes hostile to subvert the judicial process, the court shall not stand as a mute spectator and every effort should be made to bring home the truth. Criminal justice system cannot be overturned by those gullible witnesses who act under pressure, inducement or intimidation,” said the bench.Dinakaran office at Madurai in 2007 was torched by vandals on May 9, 2007, after it published the results of an opinion poll which suggested that M K Stalin had greater public approval as political successor to DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi than his elder brother M K Alagiri. Three Dinakaran staff members -- Vinoth Kumar, Gopinath and Muthuramalingam -- were killed in the incident. The case was later taken over by the CBI, which booked 17 people, including the then DSP Rajaram, for facilitating the attack.On December 9, 2009, the trial court acquitted the accused of all charges, as key witnesses turned hostile. In all, of the 83 prosecution witnesses 49 turned hostile. It included 21 police personnel and 15 witnesses from the press, including colleagues of the deceased.Calling the bluff of the prosecution, the bench headed by justice Prakash said there could be no greater affront to administration of justice than erroneous acquittals in criminal cases resulting from witnesses turning hostile. “The very edifice of the criminal law is compromised when the enforcement machinery of the State is subverted and the perpetrators of crime walk out Scott-free,” the bench stated.As ‘Attack’ Pandi is already in Palayamkottai prison, serving time in connection with another case, the court directed the other accused -- Prabhu, Vijaya Pandi, P Kandasamy, G Ramaiah Pandian, V Sudhakar, Thirumurugan @ Kattuvasi Murugan, I Ruban and Malik Batcha -- to be secured.The court set aside the acquittal of the DSP Rajaram and convicted him for lesser offences under Sections 217 (public servant disobeying law to save person from punishment) and 221 (intentionally omits to apprehend a suspect) of IPC. It directed Rajaram to appear before the court on March 25 to decide on quantum of his sentence.

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