6 months ago
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While acknowledging the strenuous quality of occupation performed by constabulary personnel, the Madras High Court connected Thursday (November 27, 2025) said, the unit successful uniform, expected to support bid and supply information arsenic good arsenic assurance to each citizens, should not enactment arsenic “human machines” and extremity up utilizing excessive force.
Justice M. Nirmal Kumar made the reflection portion quashing transgression cases registered by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against a fewer constabulary constables and galore lawyers pursuant to an unprecedent convulsive clash betwixt them wrong the Madras High Court field connected February 19, 2009.
The justice recalled the incidental had occurred erstwhile a conception of lawyers present were vociferously supporting the origin of Tamil Eelam successful Sri Lanka. Even earlier that, a resentment was brewing betwixt the lawyers and constabulary owed to beardown information deployed connected the High Court field pursuant to the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
On February 17, 2009, a radical of lawyers hurled eggs connected erstwhile Union Minister Subramanian Swamy, a staunch hostile of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), erstwhile helium was arguing a case, related to Chidambaram Thillai Natarajar Temple, successful idiosyncratic earlier a Division Bench headed by Justice P.K. Misra.
The incidental led to registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against 14 named advocates and six others. The constabulary arrested 1 of the advocates from his residence and had begun a hunt for others. On February 19, 2009, Mr. Swamy was slated to sojourn the High Court erstwhile again and hence the information was intensified.
The heightened information measures ensured helium visited the tribunal and near the field without immoderate untoward incident. However, aft helium left, a immense radical of advocates visited the High Court constabulary presumption and offered to surrender the lawyers who had been named successful the FIR booked for the February 17 incident.
When the constabulary attempted to instrumentality the advocates acrophobic into custody, the lawyers demanded the apprehension of Mr. Swamy arsenic a pre-condition for the surrender. The constabulary instantly booked a FIR against Mr. Swamy excessively nether the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989.
However, the lawyers continued to property upon his apprehension and suddenly, the concern went retired of power erstwhile immoderate of them hurled footwear and stones connected the constabulary unit too raising abusive slogans successful filthy language. The police, initially, utilized mild unit to pursuit distant the crowd.
The hostility escalated erstwhile the High Court constabulary presumption was acceptable connected occurrence and the occurrence and rescue services unit were prevented from dousing the fire. It was aft each this, the constabulary opened teardrop state shells and opened lathi complaint starring to the concern becoming combative and explosive.
Lawyers, tribunal staff, litigants, journalists and adjacent a sitting justice of the High Court suffered humor injuries forcing a Full Bench (comprising 3 judges) headed by the past Acting Chief Justice S.K. Mukhopadhaya to clasp a peculiar sitting astatine 6:40 p.m. connected the time of the incidental for ordering a CBI probe.
Observing that astir 15 years had lapsed since the incidental occurred and some the constabulary arsenic good arsenic the lawyers had buried their hatchet implicit the years, Justice Kumar said, nary utile intent would beryllium served successful going up with the proceedings successful the cases booked by the CBI against the lawyers arsenic good arsenic constabulary constables.
“Kindling the acrimonious incidental again, volition bash nary bully for both. Added to it, considering the totality of the cases based connected the statements of witnesses and materials collected, it is suffice to accidental that it leads to a way of nowhere. In the involvement of justice, this tribunal is inclined to quash the proceedings,” the justice concluded.
