HC orders release of suspended Thanjavur DCB Inspector

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday (Oct0ber 23, 2026) ordered the release of suspended Inspector of District Crime Branch, Thanjavur, Sugumaran.

The CB-CID arrested Sugumaran recently following allegation that he extorted money in a dispute between two partners of a private hospital in Thanjavur under the pretext of bringing out a settlement between them.

A Division Bench of Justices G.R. Swaminathan and P. Murugan said, “We wanted the respondents (State) to satisfy us that proper reasons were recorded for justifying the arrest of Sugumaran when he had duly complied with the notice issued under Section 35(3) of the BNSS, 2023. We place on record that no material was placed before us to show that the requirement set out in Section 35(5) was complied with. This alone is more than sufficient to declare the arrest and remand of Sugumaran illegal”.

The prosecution did not claim that the grounds of arrest had been served. No such finding was recorded by the trial magistrate. On the other hand, the magistrate said the arrestee was a police officer and that his spouse was a lawyer were circumstances that justified dispensing with the constitutional requirement. The officer was reminded that Article 21 and 22 of the Constitution were sacrosanct. Certain fundamental rights were non-negotiable, the court said.

But, the court was not concerned with the merits of the matter. It, therefore, would not be justified in holding that the FIR registered by the CB-CID had to be quashed. That was an independent battle which Sugumaran might have to wage. Whether the fundamental rights of Sugumaran were breached in the matter of his arrest and remand was the only point for consideration before the court now. Sugumaran was a police officer accused of having played katta panchayat. But even such a person deserved due process, the court said.

The court was hearing the habeas corpus petition filed by M. Sugumaran’s wife Innisai. Allowing the petition, the court declared that her husband’s arrest, detention and subsequent remand were illegal and directed that he be released forthwith. “We are not granting bail. On the other hand, we are directing his unconditional release,” the court said.