Milk adulteration case: Madras HC discharges 3 accused

Chennai: Madras high court has discharged three accused from the alleged 2014 milk theft and adulteration scam case.

Allowing the petitions filed by the three accused, Justice C.T. Selvam discharged Vaidhiyanathan, owner of the lorries, his wife Revathy and another accused Abdul Rahim.

The prosecution case was that on August 19, 2014, when the police had conducted vehicle check near Govindapuram village and intercepted two accused, they informed the previous offences committed by them.

When they were enquired, they confessed to criminal conspiracy hatched with milk tanker lorry drivers, owners and private dairy owners for committing theft by stealing milk being transported to main Aavin dairies and to supply the milk to the private milk food makers and others. 

Based on their confession, a case was registered and chargesheet was filed against 28 persons. The petitioners filed petitions to discharge them from the case and the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Villupuram, dismissed their petitions. Therefore, they filed the present petitions.

Petitioners’ counsel submitted that the genesis of prosecution case begins with the interception of two accused and based on their confession, a case was registered, resulting in filing of final report. However, those two accused had been acquitted by the judicial magistrate, Tindivanam. While so, the very genesis of the prosecution case becomes doubtful. The state has not chosen to challenge the order of acquittal. Having alleged that the milk in the lorries belonging to Vaidhiyanathan was adulterated and sold to private milk food manufacturers, prosecution has not chosen to produce any test report to establish such allegation, he added.

Setting aside the order of CJM, Villupuram, Justice C.T. Selvam said the acquittal of the two accused sounds the death knell of the prosecution case as it was their arrest and confession which forms the basis thereof. Confession of a co-accused would be a weak piece of evidence unless it finds corroboration in material particulars. As a result of the acquittal of the two accused, their confession cannot be looked into.

There was no material to prove that milk had been stolen or for that matter adulterated. In the absence thereof, it would be waste of judicial time to permit continuance of prosecution case, the judge added and discharged the trio of all charges.