The Madras High Court Saturday sharply criticised the Chennai Police Commissioner A Arun for his handling of the Anna University sexual assault case, raising questions about his conduct during the early stages of the investigation. The court’s reprimand came as it constituted an all-woman Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the assault on a first-year student and the subsequent leak of the First Information Report (FIR), which exposed the survivor’s personal details.
A vacation bench of Justices S M Subramaniam and V Lakshminarayanan formed the SIT comprising senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officers Bhukya Sneha Priya, Ayman Jamal, and S Brinda. The move followed public interest litigation petitions seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe. Advocate General P S Raman informed the court that the Tamil Nadu government welcomed the decision and extended full consent for the SIT.
The Bench expressed outrage at the leak of the FIR, calling it a severe breach of the survivor’s rights. “When the Constitution does not discriminate between men and women, the society cannot dictate the way in which women should conduct themselves,” the judges said. The court directed the state to pay Rs 25 lakh as compensation to the survivor for the trauma and humiliation she faced due to the FIR leak, and ensure her continued education at Anna University without any fees or associated costs.
The court’s ire was particularly directed at Greater Chennai Police Commissioner Arun as he had conducted a press conference asserting that the sole accused in the case, Gnanasekaran, had acted alone.
“How can the Commissioner come to such a conclusion right at the initial stage of the investigation? How will the investigating officer be able to probe freely and prosecute all the accused if a superior officer jumps the gun and makes sweeping statements to the media?” Justice Subramaniam asked.
The Bench instructed the state government to “initiate appropriate action, if necessary”, against Arun. It also demanded a comprehensive report on measures to prevent leaks of sensitive FIRs in the future.
In his press conference Thursday, Arun had declared that the man who was arrested the previous day for sexually assaulting a woman student of Anna University had acted alone, and that no one else was involved in the case, which was however contrary to initial media reports. He also dismissed claims of a second person’s involvement, saying, “media reports had specified that there was a second person at the scene of the crime and that he had received a call from another person, including a reference to a ‘sir.’ But that is not true. His phone was on airplane mode the whole time”.
After the police uploaded the FIR copy online with the private details and address of the victim and was later deleted, the senior officer was seen defending the mistake.
“The document may have been downloaded from the [Crime and Criminal Tracking Network Systems] portal or obtained from the complainant’s side. The city police acted swiftly by arresting the accused Wednesday morning, just a day after the case was filed,” Arun said, in response to the grave mistake committed by his department.
The court, expressing displeasure, noted that Arun’s press conference could compromise the investigation, and also recorded its shock over the FIR’s language, which it said amounted to victim-shaming.
Justice Subramaniam noted that cases of sexual assault, even in prestigious institutions like Anna University, highlight systemic failures.
“The state should encourage all victims to come out and complain boldly,” he said, adding that such incidents must never be tolerated.
During arguments, the A-G Raman also repeated the claims of Arun that the FIR got leaked due to a technical glitch and that the Police department was in no way responsible for it.
Meanwhile, the state higher education minister Govi Chezhiaan assured the court that steps were being taken to enhance security at Anna University and other institutions, announcing measures such as better CCTV coverage, removal of overgrown shrubbery, and stricter visitor protocols.
On Friday, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has also taken suo motu cognisance of the sexual assault on a student on the Anna University campus in Chennai. The NCW Chairperson has directed the Tamil Nadu DGP to ensure free medical care and protection to the complainant, and take action against officers for publicly revealing the complainant’s identity.
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