Lawyers in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry went on an indefinite hunger strike outside the Madras high court on NSC Bose Road on Monday.
Lawyers in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry went on an indefinite hunger strike outside the Madras high court on NSC Bose Road on Monday. They also decided to indefinitely boycott work in protest against the “assault on the judiciary” by Chennai Police on February 19.
“We are staging the fast outside the high court premises after being requested to do so by some judges. A CBI team is expected to assess the situation, including damages caused by the police action. A panel of judges also proposes to evaluate the situation. Hence, the judges did not want any unpleasantness on the court premises,” Madras High Court Advocates’ Association president Paul Kanakaraj said.
The decision to go on an indefinite strike was taken at a meeting of a state-level committee of lawyers from various associations. These associations represent 35,000 advocates. “We decided to convert the one-day token fast that began on Monday morning into an indefinite hunger strike. The government should set up a one-man judicial committee with a sitting Madras high court judge to inquire into the incident. We also want a CBI probe. The judicial committee should submit its report within a month,” association leaders said.
“We want action against senior police officers of Chennai for the assault. DGP DK Jain should be transferred. Commissioner of police K Radhakrishnan, former joint commissioner Ramasubramaniam and all the other officers involved should be suspended immediately. As decided in the Bar Council of India meeting on Sunday, February 27 will be observed as black day by lawyers across the country. We leave it to respective associations in the country to decide on the form of protest that they want to stage on that day,” they said.
The lawyers also demanded immediate withdrawal of the shoot-at-sight order and asked the government to pay interim compensation to those who suffered injuries in the February 19 clash. “We also want courts to open from Tuesday,” they said.
The association leaders called upon lawyers not give the protest any political colour. “This has been an apolitical struggle for the cause of justice and we want it to remain so till the end,” they said.
There were reports of advocates staging protests and trying to break open court gates in various districts. Members of the Madurai Bar Association burnt an effigy of Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy holding him responsible for the clash. The police arrested 250 lawyers from the districts.
Meanwhile, the issue was again raised in the Tamil Nadu assembly on Monday. Members of MDMK sought a discussion. When speaker R Avudaiappan refused to oblige they walked out of the house. AIADMK members made a passing reference to the high court incident as they complained of total lawlessness in the state during their discussion on the recent state budget.
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