“I won’t leave this matter without an inquiry,” Justice A. Badharudeen said orally as the Kerala High Court questioned how former DGP Tomin Thachankary spent his custody in a jail hospital before seeking permission to take up a job in Dubai, and indicated a medical board examination.
Kochi: The hospitalisation of former Kerala Director General of Police Tomin J. Thachankary soon after he was sent to jail on his conviction in a disproportionate assets case drew oral concerns from the Kerala High Court on November 12, 2026, which declined to simply let him withdraw his plea to travel abroad without looking into the matter [Tomin J. Thachankary v. State of Kerala].
Justice A. Badharudeen was hearing Thachankary’s application in his pending criminal appeal. The remarks were made orally in open court; the Court recorded the anomalies in an interim order and adjourned the matter, and has not yet passed a final order on an inquiry.
“That all matters to be investigated”
Thachankary’s counsel sought to withdraw the plea to travel abroad. A submission that he suffered from breathing problems did not satisfy the Court. Justice Badharudeen observed that he was not even sent to a cell, and asked:
“What is his illness? Whether he was put in the jail hospital for any disease, or for which whether the doctor therein is involved, who are the persons involved, Jail Superintendent, or any other persons in the police hierarchy involved. That all matters to be investigated. I won’t leave this matter without an inquiry. He must go for medical board examination.”
Addressing counsel, the judge added that if counsel was unaware of Thachankary’s physical condition, then the jail doctors and officials may have shown him a “grace,” and “there is a conspiracy in between them, for which there should be an investigation.” He also remarked:
“If you have a problem like that, then you should stay in the hospital, instead of wanting to go to Dubai to do a job. How is he planning to go to Dubai? He can withdraw the application, but at the same time I may go for other steps.”
In its interim order, the Court recorded:
“The anomaly in the contentions raised in (the plea) regarding his admission in the Central Prison is a matter to be addressed for the purpose of appropriate orders in the interest of justice and for keeping the rule of law intact.”
How the plea reached the Court
A trial court convicted Thachankary in a corruption case in mid-September and sentenced him to four years’ imprisonment. About a month later, the High Court suspended the sentence pending his appeal, with a condition that he cannot leave India without prior permission. He then sought permission to go to Dubai for employment.
At the hearing on November 2, the Court questioned how a person who claimed to be seriously ill and stayed in hospital through his custody was now fit to travel abroad, and directed the Superintendent of Poojappura Central Jail to report how many days he spent in hospital during his four weeks in custody and for what ailments.
Advocates S. Rajeev, Sarath K.P., Anilkumar C.R. and others appeared for Thachankary.
The remarks are oral and no finding has been recorded against Thachankary or any jail official. No jail official was before the Court or has been heard. Thachankary’s appeal against his conviction is pending, and the Court has not ruled on its merits.
Why the hearing matters
Medical grounds are a common route by which influential convicts and under-trials spend custody in hospital rather than in a cell. By signalling a medical board examination and an inquiry into the roles of jail doctors and officials, the Court is testing whether such claims were genuine in the case of a former head of the State police. Withdrawing a plea, the Court made clear, will not by itself end the scrutiny.
Case Title: Tomin J. Thachankary v. State of Kerala
Bench: Justice A. Badharudeen, Kerala High Court
Date of Hearing: November 12, 2026
Appearances: S. Rajeev, Sarath K.P., Anilkumar C.R., K.S. Kiran Krishnan and others for Tomin J. Thachankary
