A young police officer grievously injured in the blast that killed Rajiv Gandhi has three decades later been granted “permanent custody” of his bloodstained cap and name badge from that day, which hold “immense sentimental value” for him as symbols of his “blood, sweat and tears”.

“A judge with a mind, lawyers with a heart,” the now retired Prateep V. Philip, who stepped down as Tamil Nadu director-general of police (training) on September 30 last year, exulted after winning his legal battle at the Chennai city civil court for the cap and badge.

Philip, winner of a President’s Medal during a distinguished career, patted his legal team for arguing persuasively before the court of judge T.C. Chandrasekaran against the CBI claim that the agency still needed to retain the two objects as “evidence” in the assassination case.

“Awesome result of a lot of diligent hard work by team Sanjay Pinto, Akhil, Vidya (Pinto) and assisting lawyers, brilliant arguments by Sanjay in a super sensitive case which no one wants to touch with a bargepole for right or wrong reasons,” Philip wrote on Facebook on Thursday, a day after the ruling.

Sanjay Pinto said: “We countered the CBI’s argument of having to preserve the ‘inviolate integrity of the objects’ by pointing out that the cap had been nibbled by rats.”

Also, Philip’s team showed the court a photograph of the Lotto shoes that Rajiv had worn that day — and by which his body was first identified by Congress leaders G.K. Moopanar and Jayanti Natarajan at the blast site — that are now with the Indira Gandhi Museum in Delhi rather than with the CBI.

Philip has narrated how he was about “three feet ahead” of Rajiv when the LTTE suicide bomber struck at Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, on May 21, 1991, killing the former Prime Minister. The blast threw a bloodied Philip, then an assistant superintendent of police (ASP), several feet from the spot and wrenched the name badge off his shirt.

Philip, who jokes about still having “100 steel pellets inside my body”, says an “angel” in the form of an unknown boy saved his life by giving him water to drink, drop by drop.

This was the second ruling in Philip’s favour by the same court, which had earlier granted his “last professional wish” of being allowed to wear, on his day of retirement, the cap and the badge that to him were “a reminder of the call of duty”.

On September 30, these two took pride of place in his regalia despite the bloodstained cap -- looking all of its 30 years --- contrasting with his otherwise gleaming uniform, and the name badge giving his rank as ASP rather than DGP.

However, the court had asked Philip to hand the cap and badge back to the CBI by October 28 after the agency pleaded it needed them because of ongoing investigations into a possible international conspiracy behind Rajiv’s assassination.
But in October, Philip again moved the same court for “permanent custody” of the cap and the badge, Sanjay Pinto said.

First additional sessions judge Chandrasekaran said in his January 5 order: “The petition is allowed for permanent custody on condition of high resolution photographs and/ or videos of the M.O. (material object) 38 (cap) and M.O. 39 (name badge) to be taken by respondent CBI and produced before this court and with signature of the petitioner herein within three weeks from the date of this order and on condition to the petitioner to produce ‘M.O. 38’ and ‘M.O. 39’ as and when required by this court in exceptional circumstances.”

Philip’s team had cited various Supreme Court and high court judgments that said that when a piece of seized property had no evidentiary value and advanced technology was available, it was not necessary for the prosecuting agency to hold on to them.

“Thanks to all for the joyful order awaited since thirty long years!” Philip posted on Thursday.
Philip recently recalled that the Sriperumbudur explosion happened barely 10 days after his first daughter was born. Philip was then ASP, Kancheepuram district.

After receiving Rajiv at the entrance to the rally venue, Philip had taken a few steps towards the dais and was just “three feet ahead” of Rajiv when the blast took place.

Philip has told an interviewer he was thrown in the air and fell down almost unconscious. He saw “blood all around, amid wails and shrieks of the victims”.

His then boss, superintendent of police Mohammed Iqbal --- one of the police officers killed in the blast along with Rajiv’s personal security officer – was soaked in blood.

“I sensed the worst had happened and I could not get up. I managed to crawl past Rajiv Gandhi’s body, wondering what had happened to Rajiv. One of the police inspectors at the venue, whom I had scolded earlier that afternoon, came running and said Rajiv was dead,” Philip said.

“The SP had fallen behind. He (inspector) took me and put me behind a jeep. At that time, my head was resting on the lap of a boy. I was feeling terribly thirsty. The boy gave me water, one drop at a time. I asked for his name and the boy said, ‘Purushottaman’, which means ‘the perfect being’.”

Despite his best efforts, Philip never found out who the boy was. “That boy was like an angel,” he told the interviewer.