Vachati: Over 200 accused assemble in a hall

DHARMAPURI: It was quite an amusing sight to watch the over 200 accused in the Vachathi, most of them well into their late fifties and beyond, walking into the court hall one by one as their names were called out. The immaculately-dressed Harikrishnan, the then Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Accused No 1, was the first to walk in as the court officer called out his name.The former Assistant Conservator of Forests Muthaian and then Deputy Forest Officer (Harur) Nathan, who had allegedly led the raid were the next to follow.Thereafter, as the court officer called out the names of each accused loudly, they recorded their presence in varied styles. Some yelled out “Saar!” announcing their arrival. Others entered with folded hands or bowed in reverence.A few of them came to attention, briskly saluted in the direction of the judge’s seat and joined the queue. There were brief pauses in between as accommodating the over 200 accused in the court hall was quite a task.Court staff had to regulate their entry, almost resembling the scene in a temple where people are shooed in queues. A few of them who could not hear their names being called out rushed in later and recorded their attendance “237 Peter Saar”, “180 Dhanagopal Sir” and so on, almost as they would have done in a classroom.The number refers to the order of their appearance in the list of accused. Some of the accused were aged and had to be assisted in climbing up the stairs to reach the court hall.One of them Sivaraj, a forest officer, who had suffered a paralytic attack was physically carried and laid down outside the court hall. The roll call exercise took over 15 minutes.Thereafter judge Kumaraguru said “the judgment will be delivered on September 29”.