Chennai, Apr 25:
The Madras High Court has dismissed a petition challenging the closure order of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in the death case of Ramkumar, the sole accused in the sensational 2016 Swathi murder case.
The petition was filed by Paramasivam, Ramkumar’s father, seeking to quash the NHRC’s decision to close its inquiry into the alleged custodial death of his son. Ramkumar had died in Puzhal Central Prison in September 2016, reportedly by suicide.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan upheld the NHRC’s decision, noting that the commission had already closed the case in May 2020 after examining all available materials, including reports from police and judicial authorities.
The court observed that the petition had been filed after a significant delay and found no grounds to interfere with the NHRC’s findings. It also took into account earlier conclusions, including a unanimous postmortem report and a judicial inquiry, which had stated that Ramkumar died by suicide.
Rejecting the petitioner’s contention that the NHRC had failed to conduct an independent probe, the bench held that the commission had duly considered all relevant evidence before arriving at its conclusion. It further noted that previous proceedings, including the State government’s decision to drop further action, remained unchallenged.
With this, the High Court effectively brought closure to a long-standing legal challenge surrounding the controversial death, which had drawn widespread public attention in the aftermath of the high-profile murder case.
The ruling reinforces the court’s position that delayed challenges and previously settled findings, backed by multiple inquiries, cannot be reopened without substantive new evidence.