The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday told the Madras High Court that it is planning to move a curative petition against the acquittal of Dashwanth, the sole accused in the 2017 rape and murder case of a seven-year-old girl in Chennai.

The submission came during the hearing of a plea seeking directions to the State government to challenge the Supreme Court’s decision acquitting Dashwanth.

A Division Bench of Justice GR Swaminathan and Justice V Lakshminarayanan noted the State’s stand and closed the petition, observing that the Court could not compel the government to file such a plea.

“We are clear in our mind that no mandamus can be issued in this matter. Today, the Additional Public Prosecutor submitted that the government intends to file a curative petition. Considering this submission, the petition is closed,” the Bench said.

The case dates back to February 2017, when the seven-year-old girl went missing from her apartment complex in Chennai. After a search by her family and the police, her burnt body was found three days later. The investigation led to the arrest of Dashwanth, who lived in the same neighbourhood.

In 2018, the trial court sentenced Dashwanth to death, and the Madras High Court later confirmed both the conviction and the sentence.

However, in October last year, the Supreme Court acquitted him, holding that the prosecution had failed to conclusively prove key pieces of evidence, including CCTV footage, confessional statements and forensic reports.

The present petition was filed by S Venkatesh, who claimed that the acquittal was obtained by “fraud” on the Supreme Court. He argued that while the apex court had initially issued notice only on the question of sentence, it later proceeded to hear the appeal on merits on the assumption that the High Court had granted a certificate of appeal.

According to the petitioner, an RTI response later revealed that no such certificate had actually been issued by the Madras High Court. He argued that without the certificate, the Supreme Court had no jurisdiction to hear the appeal on merits.

Calling it a case of “jurisdictional fraud”, the petitioner sought action including recall of the acquittal and proceedings for contempt, perjury and professional misconduct.

The petitioner has also written to the Registrar of the Supreme Court seeking that the issue be placed before the Chief Justice of India for appropriate action.

Case Title: S Venkatesh v The State of Tamil Nadu
Case No: WP 18454 of 2026