New Delhi: The Madras high court has upheld the conviction of 269 government officials in the 1992 Vachathi case, dismissing their appeals challenging the verdict of a sessions court.The case pertains to the rape of 18 women from Vachathi tribal village in Tamil Nadu’s Dharmapuri village during a raid carried out apparently to nab sandalwood smugglers. Extensive destruction of the property of the villagers was also reported in the raid that was carried out on June 20, 1992.The high court on Friday, September 29, upheld the 2011 verdict of the sessions court in Dharmapuri, which found 126 forest personnel, including four Indian Forest Service officers, 84 policemen, and five revenue department officials guilty. During the course of the trial, 54 out of 269 accused died, and the others (215) were sentenced to a jail term of one to 10 years.“This court finds that the evidence of all the victims and prosecution witnesses are cogent and consistent, which are reliable,” Justice P. Velmurugan of the high court said, dismissing pleas against the sessions court order, Indian Express reported.The high court ordered the session court to issue directions to secure the custody of all the guilty to ensure they serve the remainder of their prison terms.The court also instructed the Tamil Nadu government to pay Rs 10 lakh in compensation to rape survivors, as per the 2016 order of a division bench. It also told the government to collect 50% of the compensation amount from the convicts.“To save actual smugglers and big shots, the officials played a big stage drama in which innocent tribal women got affected…the pain and difficulties faced by them have to be compensated in terms of money and jobs,” the judge said, according to the Times of India.Accusing the then district collector, superintendent of police, district forest officials, among others of shielding the accused, the court said, “From the evidence of the witnesses, it is clear that all the officials, including the District Collector, District Forest Officer and the Superintendent of Police, even though knew who were the real culprits, for the reason best known to them, they did not take any action against them and to safeguard the real culprits, the innocent villagers were victimised. Therefore, this court comes to the conclusion that prosecution has proved that all the appellants committed the offence.”The court also ordered the officials concerned to provide suitable jobs to the rape survivors or to their family members. It also sought information on the welfare measures taken for Vachathi villagers after the 1992 incident.The case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 1995, which chargesheeted 269 accused.