ஆள் கடத்தல் வழக்கு, ADGP Jayaram-மை காப்பாற்ற முயற்சியா?

Is the law equal for all? This question looms large when one looks at the child kidnapping case involving Tamil Nadu Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) HM Jayaram, MLA Poovai Jagan Moorthy, and others. The Tamil Nadu government and police’s reluctance to act decisively against ADGP Jayaram has raised serious concerns about accountability and equality before the law. On Thursday, the Supreme Court set aside the Madras High Court’s directive to arrest Jayaram and transferred the investigation to the CB-CID. Hearing a plea filed by the suspended officer, a vacation bench also directed the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court to reassign the case to a different bench. Jayaram is accused of allowing his official vehicle to be used by men searching for an inter-caste couple. The 18-year-old boy, the younger brother of the groom, was allegedly kidnapped in retaliation and later found abandoned, injured, and traumatised. Among the accused are Puratchi Bharatham Party MLA Poovai Jagan Moorthy, a dismissed police constable, and a party-affiliated lawyer. Confessional statements reportedly point to Moorthy’s involvement, and ₹7.5 lakh in cash was recovered during the investigation. The High Court had ordered Jayaram’s arrest while hearing Moorthy’s anticipatory bail plea, stating that public servants must be held accountable and that no one is above the law. In this week’s Yen Endra Kelvi, Shabbir Ahmed asks: Why did the Tamil Nadu government drag its feet in a case involving such serious charges against a high-ranking police officer?