CBI indicts 31 lawyers for Madras High Court violence

The Central Bureau of Investigation has charged 31 lawyers and one law student with conspiracy to unleash violence in the Madras High Court campus on Feb 19, 2009, leading to lath charge by the police inside the court complex and a running battle between the two.

It has also charged five police personnel with destruction of property, use of criminal force and causing hurt. It has recommended departmental action against 22 other personnel for committing excesses, and their supervisory officers for failing to exercise control.

During the violence, a police station situated inside the court complex was set on fire and CBI Deputy Inspector-General of Police Anurag told reporters here on Friday that this was the culmination of the conspiracy.

The violence itself was an offshoot of a chain of protests held inside the court complex over a period of time in January-February 2009 by pro-LTTE lawyers at the height of the Eelam War IV in Sri Lanka to pressurize the Government of India to act.

As part of this agitation, a group of lawyers went from court to court to force a boycott and in one of the courts, Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy who was arguing a case was assaulted with eggs by a group of protestors in front of two judges.

At the subsequent hearing on Feb 19,2009, Dr Swamy who is in Z category security was allowed to bring his armed Central Reserve Police Force personnel into the court hall. Dr Swamy left the court hall after the lunch break. Around 3 in the afternoon, a group of lawyers wanted for the assault on Dr Swamy went to the police station and dared the personnel there to arrest them.

The police were reluctant to arrest them for fear of political fallout and asked them to surrender in a court. An argument ensued, leading to a scuffle in which police were attacked.

Police reinforcements were rushed and baton-wielding policemen chased the agitating lawyers into nearby courts and bashed them up. Soon, it became a free-for-all in which high court judge Arumuga Perumal Adityan, who came to pacify the two sides, was hit on the head with a baton by the police and he had to be rushed to hospital with bleeding injuries.

As the lawyers threw stones, the police retaliated by smashing up most of the cars parked in the complex. This correspondent, who was witness to the incident at the height of the violence, saw a group of lawyers setting fire to the police station. Fire tenders parked a hundred meters away could not get close until the police came charging in.

The incident led to the Government suspending the then Chennai Police Commissioner and three other top officers and appointing a court of enquiry by retired Mumbai High Court Chief Justice Srikrishna.

Justice Srikrishna, in his report, blamed the soft approach of the then acting Chief Justice Mukhopadyay and his inaction against a certain bunch of unruly lawyers for the violence. He also said a section of lawyers behaved like "hooligans", forcing the police to resort to extreme action, some of which could have been in excess.

A division bench of the high court, which went into the issue, however was harsh on the police and light on errant lawyers. It recommended action against the then Chennai police commissioner and a few other top officers. The concerned officers have since moved the Supreme Court against the high court judgment which let off lawyers with an admonition that they should not have become a law unto themselves.

Meanwhile, the CBI which was asked to investigate by the high court, filed its chargesheet in a special court a couple of days ago, incicting 31 lawyers, a law college student and five police personnel. The Madras High Court Advocates Association and other bar associations protested against this and said the investigation was biased.

To counter the charge, the CBI called the press to make public the charge-sheet.

Though the CBI officers led by its Additional Director-General Harsh Bhal told reporters that their investigation was independent of the Srikrishna report, the chargesheet filed against the lawyers also paint a similar picture. The lawyers have been indicted with rioting with deadly weapons, unlawful assembly, destroying property and obstructing and attacking public servants.

The CBI officials said they had presented relevant evidence, including video clippings collected from the media and ‘other friends’.

Ashok Kumar, Inspector-General, South Zone, clarified that only specific overt acts corroborated by documentary and oral evidence have been relied upon to charge the accused and not their mere presence at the scene of violence. "We had examined 643 witnesses including those from the media, litigants, police and advocates and court staff", he disclosed.

Mr Bhal said:"The CBI conducted an open investigation and all were given ample opportunity to furnish any material relevant to the case. However most of the lawyers associations could not provide relevant material evidence to identify the guilty police officers". He said the names of the lawyers would be made public once the trial court took cognisance of the charge-sheet.

Though the CBI had completed investigation against the top four officers of the city police indicted by the high court, further action could be taken against them only after their petitions before the Supreme Court were disposed of, Bhal said.

- Asian Tribune -