Supreme Court of India has just delivered an enormous verdict, which turns upside down a high-profile murder case in Chennai. We are talking about the killings of Dr. Subbiah. He was a highly recognised neurosurgeon. In September 2013 he was hacked to death in the open outside his office
For years, legal system was dragging its heels. Then the Madras High Court even let all the killers walk free in 2024. But now the high court has intervened to correct what they described as a “massive error.” Those acquittals were thrown out by Justices MM Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma. They restored the guilt of nine people who were involved in the conspiracy, and the actual attack itself. The other seven men are now going to prison for the remainder of their days.
This time, the government of Tamil Nadu did not want to go for the death penalty. Due to this, the bench imposed life imprisonment on the attackers. Judges were clearly taken aback by the lower court’s actions. The High Court essentially disregarded a pile of substantial evidence.
A battle to storm a beach is turning bloody.A battle to storm a beach is turning bloody.
It’s a saying that money makes people do crazy things. The whole bloodshed began with a 2-acre plot of land. The property was located down in Kanyakumari. Dr. Subbiah was embroiled in a bitter controversy with one of the local families regarding ownership of it
The family was an old couple Ponnusamy and Mary Pushpam. They had two sons, Basil and Boris. It was a very violent affair over the years. The police received complaints. The number of court claims of trespassing was endless. Both sides refused to give in. So the sons resolved to solve the problem of violence. They knew that if the doctor had died, the doctor’s wife and daughters wouldn’t fight for the land.
So they hired several thugs. Dr. Subbiah completed his tenure at Billroth Hospital in the Raja Annamalaipuram area on 14th Sept 2013. He exited the building around 5 PM to go to his vehicle.He was walking to his car at approximately 5 PM. He was jumped by three men. They used sickles. To his head they came and to his neck and to his shoulders. He survived for more than a week in the hospital, and died on September 23
Flip-Flopping Through The Courts
The investigation conducted by the police was quite a thorough one. They discovered the trail of money. They had CCTV footage from around the area. They even got one of the attackers to turn against the others and to testify for the state!
This evidence was all reviewed in 2021 by a trial court. It took no pains there the judge. They had seven of the accused sentenced to death and the old parents life terms. However, the lawsuits had only just begun. The Madras High Court in June 2024 reviewed the identical evidence and ruled it trash! They said that they could not blame a delay in witness statements. They claimed that the police blundered the investigation. All nine people were acquitted, and that’s that.
This week, the Supreme Court soundly demolished it. The justices said that the High Court concocted “theories” that did not exist. They reminded everybody that a criminal court’s function is not to allow murderers to go free because of some minor technicality. The top court pointed out that fifty-seven witnesses testified. It was obvious from the financial statements that the hit was being funded by Ponnusamy. There was no doubt about the evidence.
A Strange Break for the Parents
The elderly parents were dealt a bit differently, as seven of the men have two weeks to surrender and begin their life sentences. The Supreme Court gave Ponnusamy and Mary Pushpam eight weeks to formally ask the Governor of Tamil Nadu for a pardon. They are on hold pending a decision by the state executive on that request.
This is an interesting line of reasoning. The bench commented on the fact that the parents had no intention of the murder. They did not pay for the killers. Essentially they took orders from their sons. This was due to a “misplaced sense of the duty to parent,” Justice Sharma wrote. Parents want to keep their children safe. At times, that instinct overtakes their rational thinking abilities.
The court was careful to clarify, very importantly, something. They are never forgiving the parents. They are not saying it’s OK if your kid says, “Go fund a murder.They are not saying it is OK if your kid says, “Go fund a murder. They only wanted to recognize the disheveled human feelings that brought two seniors together to carry out a hit job.
To make the point come across, the judgment began with a citation from Rabindranath Tagore. The fabled poet once called to mind the human greed, which has no end, and crushes life, or beauty without second thought. The judges described this to be a textbook case of that darkness. A well-known physician passed away on the streets. A family destroyed themselves. It all went down because no one was able to get away from some dirt. Now, the killers will be stuck in a cage, pondering whether or not they got their money’s worth for that land.
