Chennai (IANS) | The Madras High Court has constituted a one-man judicial commission headed by retired Justice M. Sathyanarayanan to probe the presence of human excreta in an overhead water tank supplying water to a Dalit colony at Vengavayil in Pudukottai district. The court directed the commission to visit Vengayil Dalit Basti and submit a report within two months. A division bench of Acting Chief Justice T. Raja and Justice Bharati Chakraborty constituted the single-member commission.

The order came following a PIL filed by a person, Rajkamal, from Veppampattu in Tiruvallur district. He had filed a public interest litigation demanding a CBI inquiry into the matter. The petitioner said that even after 70 years of independence, untouchability exists in the country. Social justice given in the constitution was also a long dream for the SC/ST communities in the country.

He said that SC/ST people are treated as second class citizens in the country. He submitted before the court that even after formation of CB-CID team, there was no progress in the case and he has requested for CBI probe into the matter.

Additional Advocate General of Tamil Nadu R. Raveendran produced the CB-CID investigating officer’s report and informed the court that the agency had questioned 147 people in the case and said there were contradictory statements of these witnesses. He said that further investigation is being done because of the contradictory statements.

Significantly, human excreta was found in the drinking water tank in December 2022.

–IANS