Engineer's suicide: Madras HC adjourns hearing on former TN minister's bail plea

MADURAI: The Madurai bench of the Madras high court on Wednesday adjourned hearing on the bail petitions of former Tamil Nadu agriculture minister SS ‘Agri’ Krishnamoorthy and agriculture chief engineer M Senthil to Thursday.
Krishnamoorthy and Senthil were arrested on April 4 in connection with the suicide of senior engineer S Muthukumarasamy. Muthukumarasamy committed suicide by jumping in front of a moving train at Thatchanallur on February 20 as he was allegedly under pressure from the former agriculture minister and his associates over the appointments of seven drivers in Tirunelveli.
When the bail petitions came up for hearing before Justice K Kalyanasundaram, Senthil’s side argued the case first.
His side argued that the petitioner was in no way connected to the suicide of the engineer. His counsel pointed out that the railway police had registered the case as an accident.
Senthil’s side argued that if the petitioner had allegedly demanded bribe from Muthukumarasamy over the appointments, he could have said the appointment was made in accordance with law and hence he was not bound to give money to him (Senthil).
The judge adjourned hearing to Thursday when the prosecution side sought time to argue the case. Following this, hearing on Krishnamoorthy’s bail plea was also adjourned.