The accused is entitled to be furnished with translated copies of all the documents in Tamil, Justice A Raman observed.

The judge was passing orders on a revision petition from N Sasikala, one of the accused in the case, challenging the order of V Radhakrishnan, Judge, Special Court-II, refusing to adjourn the case till the documents are furnished to her in Tamil.

Allowing the petition, the judge observed that there is no bar in the Cr.PC prohibiting grant of translated copies. Following his earlier orders dated December 8, 1998, on Sasikala's similar petition in the TANSI case, the state had recruited personnel to translate the documents into Tamil and the work is likely to be over in another two weeks. Additional Advocate General T R Rajagopalan has also stated that the petitioner will besupplied with necessary translated copies.

The judge observed that the object of framing charges is to call upon the accused to answer during trial and to enable him/her to know what is the evidence, which the prosecution would adduce against him/her.

Therefore, it is necessary to appraise the accused of the necessary background of facts, which go to constitute the charge. Merely because the accused is defended by lawyers it cannot be said that she loses the right to know for herself the case against her. After all, it is only the accused who is tried and when a person is tried, her/his liberty is in jeopardy. It is the inherent right of the accused to know as to what is happening and the details of the case.

Refusal to furnish copies of the documents in the language known to her is a deprivation of a valuable right, the judge said.

Palani baba case

The trial in the sensational Palani Baba murder case was today adjourned to March 24, following a petition by the accused in the High Court,seeking transfer of the case.

The adjournment was made by second additional sessions Judge, R Sarangarajan, following the plea by the six accused in the case early this month that the case be transferred to another court.

All the accused, who were produced before the court, had been charged for the murder of Jihad Committee leader, Palani Baba, in Pollachi, about 35 kms from here, on January 28, 1997.

The trial, which commenced on January 11, was adjourned on several occasions due to various reasons. Ten witnesses, including a lone eyewitness, had been examined so far.