Chargesheet against Gurumurthi quashed

Chennai:The Chennai High Court today quashed the chargesheet filed against columnist S Gurumurthy for refusing to divulge information and answer questions put to him by the Tamil Nadu police in connection with the September 2004 murder of temple official Sankararaman

The articles were titled ‘The Sankaracharya stands out like Abhimanyu’ and ‘Unless the case is reinvestigated, justice will not be done.’ Quashing the case against Gurumurthy, Justice M Jeyapal observed that the columnist had written articles expressing his point of view as a journalist.

“Irked by the same, it appears the chief investigating officer (IO) summoned him (Gurumurthy) under section 160 CrPC (investigating officer’s power to summon witness) and started grilling him which of course did not take the IO anywhere,” the Judge said.

Stating that the court found no prima facie case was made out against the journalist, the Judge said Gurumurthy cannot be directed to undergo the ordeal of trial and hence the proceeding against him on the file of a Kancheepuram Judicial Magistrate is quashed.