The Madras High Court has ordered medical boards of three doctors each to accompany legal services teams on prison visits, examine the Theni jail break prisoners and treat them where needed, after a mother alleged that her two sons and two other remand prisoners were severely assaulted by prison warders after they surrendered and were then shifted to other prisons without treatment. The allegations are untested.
Chennai: A mother’s petition over what she says happened to her two sons after they surrendered has led the Madras High Court to implead, on its own motion, the Deans of two government medical college hospitals and the Superintendent of Central Prison, Tirunelveli in a criminal writ petition concerning prisoners from the Theni District Jail. The Court ordered medical boards to accompany District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) teams on their prison visits and said any remand prisoner who is injured must be given immediate and adequate medical treatment [K. Arumugathammal v. State of Tamil Nadu & Others].
Justice A.D. Jagadish Chandira wrote the order of November 3, 2026 for a Division Bench that also included Justice B. Karthikeyan. The matter will be listed for reporting compliance on November 6, 2026.
Doctors to go in with the legal services teams
Taking note of the administrative orders and the petitioner’s submissions, the Bench held:
“Taking into consideration the administrative orders already passed on 02.11.2026 and the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner, we deem it appropriate that if any of the remand prisoners is injured, he/she must be provided with immediate and adequate medical treatment.”
It then directed:
“The Dean, Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital, Salem, as well as the Dean, Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital, Tirunelveli, are directed to constitute and depute respective Medical Boards consisting of three Medical Officers/Doctors which shall accompany the Chairmen and Secretaries of the District Legal Services Authorities concerned during their prison visits, examine the prisoners, and provide requisite medical treatment wherever necessary.”
What the mother alleges
Petitioner K. Arumugathammal sought a direction to the authorities to give proper medical treatment, including specialist care, to her sons Meenakshi Sundaram (26) and Thirupathi (22), and to two other remand prisoners, Solai Mugileswaran (19) and Sabarinathan (24), by referring them to the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital, Salem. She also sought an independent judicial inquiry into the alleged custodial assault.
As the petition tells it, her sons and the two others, who were remand prisoners at Theni District Prison, escaped on October 26, 2026 and surrendered before the police through their advocate on October 28, 2026, after which they were remanded and taken back to Theni. She alleged that prison warders and other personnel then assaulted them, causing grievous injuries all over their bodies, and that Meenakshi Sundaram lost a nail from an injury to his toe.
The petition further alleged that on October 30, Meenakshi Sundaram and two other prisoners were moved to Central Prison, Salem without treatment, and that an advocate who visited them at Salem found injuries on all three. Her counsel told the Court she had since learnt that Thirupathi is in Central Prison, Palayamkottai, and not in Salem.
The allegations of assault in custody are untested. The Court has not recorded any finding on them, and the prayer for a judicial inquiry remains pending. Those named in the complaint are entitled to the presumption of innocence, as are the prisoners in any case arising from the escape.
The legal services authority had already acted
On the administrative side, the Executive Chairman of the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority had asked on November 2, 2026 that the DLSA Chairman, Theni visit the District Jail where the 17 remand prisoners were originally held, enquire into the allegations of torture and intimidation, and check whether they had legal representation through the prison legal aid clinic, the Bench was told.
The DLSA Chairmen and Secretaries were to meet the prisoners individually without prison officials present and record any injuries and whether treatment was given; the alleged perpetrators, dates, places and nature of any assault, along with witnesses; whether prisoners were threatened or stopped from complaining; and any other violation of fundamental rights or prison rules. They were also to help the prisoners apply to the prison legal aid clinic. The TNSLSA Member Secretary extended the inspections to the Central Prisons at Cuddalore, Madurai, Palayamkottai and Salem and the District Jail, Theni, with a report due by November 16, 2026.
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What the order adds
Prisoners who escape and then return to custody can be exposed to reprisal inside jails. By sending doctors from outside the prison system in with legal services teams, the Court has arranged for any injuries to be examined and treated independently, ahead of the November 6 compliance hearing.
The order also builds on the legal services authority’s own inquiry, so that its report due on November 16 will have medical findings to go with prisoners’ statements.
Case Title: K. Arumugathammal v. State of Tamil Nadu & Others
Case No.: W.P.Crl. No. 2927 of 2026
Bench: Justice A.D. Jagadish Chandira and Justice B. Karthikeyan, Madras High Court
Date of Order: November 3, 2026
Next Hearing: November 6, 2026 (for reporting compliance)
Appearance: P. Pugalenthi for the Petitioner; C.R. Malarvannan, Additional Public Prosecutor, for the Respondents