Lakshmanan v. The State Of Tamilnadu
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT DATED : 17.12.2025
CORAM:
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE G.K.ILANTHIRAIYAN and THE HONOURABLE MS.JUSTICE R.POORNIMA HABEAS CORPUS PETITION(MD)No.650 of 2025 Lakshmanan ... Petitioner vs.
1. The Superintendent of Police Ramanathapuram District
2. The Deputy Superintendent of Police Rameshwaram, Ramanathapuram District
3. The Inspector of Police Rameshwaram Town Police Station, Ramanathapuram
4. K. Palani
5. Maheshwari ... Respondents PRAYER: Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, to issue a Writ of Habeas Corpus, directing the respondents 1 to 3 to produce the body or person of the petitioner's mother/detenue by name Pushpam @ Pushpammal, W/o. Murugesan, aged about 87 years before tis Court and set her at liberty.
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For Petitioner : Mr.R.Mahendra Rajan For R1 to R3 : Mr.R.M.Anbunithi Additional Public Prosecutor For R4 and R5 : Mr.M.Ponniah
O R D E R
[Order of the Court was made by G.K.ILANTHIRAIYAN, J.] The prayer in the present petition is to direct the respondents 1 to 3 to produce the body or person of the petitioner's mother/detenue by name Pushpam @ Pushpammal, W/o. Murugesan, aged about 87 years before tis Court and set her at liberty.
2. The petitioner is the son and the fifth respondent is the daughter of the detenue aged about 87 years by name Pushpam @ Pushpammal. It seems that the property owned by the detenue was settled in favour of the fifth respondent and thereafter she unilaterally cancelled the settlement deed executed in favour of the fifth respondent and as such the fifth respondent filed a suit in O.S.No.51 of 2015 on the file of the District Munsif Court, Rameshwaram, which was decreed in favour of the fifth respondent and her son on 10.06.2016. The defendant in the suit Page No.2 of 6
i.e., the detenue was called absent and she was set exparte. Thereafter the detenue filed application to set aside the exparte decree and the same was dismissed for default. Thereafter it was challenged before this Court in CRP No.1054 of 2024 and it is pending adjudication. While being so, the mother of the petitioner was missing from 13.08.2023, therefore the petitioner lodged complaint before the third respondent and the same has been registered in Crime No.185 of 2024 as 'Woman Missing' However the second respondent could not trace out the detenue and as such the petitioner a Habeus Corpus Petition before this Court in HCP(MD) No.990 of 2024 which was pending for a long time. This Court by an order dated 21.10.2024 closed the petition since already the third respondent registered the First Information Report and investigation is pending and thereafter the present Habeus Corpus Petition has been filed for the very same relief.
3. The learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the respondents 1 to 3 filed a status report and submitted that the third respondent had taken sincere efforts to trace out the detenue by publishing her photo in the newspaper, social media as well as poster. Page No.3 of 6
Further they also enquired several persons in and around the locality but the detenue could not be traced.
4. In view of the same, the third respondent is directed to complete the investigation in Crime No. 185 of 2024 and file a final report within a period of twelve weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.
5. With the above direction, the Habeus Corpus Petition stands disposed of. However the petitioner is at liberty to submit all the documents if any before the third respondent for the purpose of investigation.
[G.K.I., J.] [R.P., J.] 17.12.2025 Index : Yes / No aav To:
1. The Superintendent of Police Ramanathapuram District
2. The Deputy Superintendent of Police Rameshwaram, Ramanathapuram District Page No.4 of 6
3. The Inspector of Police Rameshwaram Town Police Station, Ramanathapuram
4. The Additional Public Prosecutor, Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, Madurai.
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G.K.ILANTHIRAIYAN, J.
AND R.POORNIMA, J.
aav DATED : 17.12.2025 Page No.6 of 6