A plea by former Kerala Direcotor General of Police (DGP) Tomin J Thachankary to relax his bail conditions so he could travel to Dubai for employment triggered a series of scathing observations from the Kerala High Court today. Justice A Badharudeen questioned how the former police chief, convicted in a disproportionate assets case, had spent almost his entire period of custody in a prison hospital rather than a jail cell.
“Please apply common sense. He was not even sent to a cell,” the judge remarked, adding that the former DGP may have seen prison cells only during his years as a senior police officer.
“You have not been in jail. You camped out and went to the hospital,” the judge remarked, questioning the circumstances of Thachankary’s hospitalisation. The judge reprimanded the counsel to the level that they agreed to withdraw the petition to relax bail. However, the judge was in no mood to give up. The court witnessed a cut-throat scrutiny and pointed questions by the judge to the lawyers of the former DGP. The High Court subsequently suspended his sentence pending appeal, subject to conditions. The court also raised the possibility of collusion involving jail officials and medical personnel, making it clear that the circumstances surrounding the hospitalisation required investigation.
Thachankary had been sentenced by a Vigilance Court to four years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 30.84 lakh in a disproportionate assets case.
