Kerala HC questions govt over failure to suspend DySP in dental student suicide probe

Kochi ,August 10

The Kerala High Court on Monday pulled up the State government for not taking stronger action against a Deputy Superintendent of Police despite its own findings pointing to serious procedural lapses in the investigation into the suicide of dental student Nithin Raj.

Justice Badharudeen questioned why the investigating officer had not been placed under suspension while departmental proceedings were pending, observing that merely ordering an oral enquiry appeared inadequate given the nature of the alleged lapses.

The court made the observations after the government produced an order initiating an oral enquiry against Crime Branch DySP Sudheer Kallen under Rule 6 of the Kerala Police Departmental Inquiries, Punishment and Appeal Rules.

Referring to the government’s findings against the officer, the judge orally questioned the decision to allow him to continue without suspension. The court observed that police personnel facing allegations involving serious lapses in sensitive investigations should ordinarily be kept under suspension pending an enquiry.

The government order itself had identified significant procedural shortcomings in the investigation into Nithin Raj’s death. Among them was the alleged failure of the investigating team to properly communicate the grounds of arrest when Dr M Kodanda Ram was taken into custody in connection with the case.

The procedural lapse subsequently resulted in a sessions court ordering Kodanda Ram’s release, according to the findings placed before the High Court.

Against this backdrop, the court sought to know why the government had confined its action to ordering an oral enquiry despite recording serious deficiencies in the officer’s handling of the investigation.

The High Court indicated that departmental accountability could not be reduced to a routine exercise when procedural violations had consequences for a criminal investigation.

The court’s intervention has brought renewed focus on the conduct of the investigation and the State government’s response to the deficiencies identified in the probe.