The members of the Coimbatore District Council of the Communist party of India (CPI) on Friday submitted a petition to City Police Commissioner A.K. Viswanathan, urging the city police to put an end to the alleged misuse of power by officials in the department. They also made an appeal to the police to abide by the directions of the court and to refrain from interfering in civil disputes.
In the petition, CPI District Secretary and Valparai MLA M. Arumugam condemned the case registered by the police against their Coimbatore West Committee Treasurer and lawyer L. Rajendran. He said that a few officers in the City Police were supporting one side in civil disputes and are resorting to registration of cases based on false complaints.
He urged the Police Commissioner to drop action against the lawyer, who was booked by the police based on a false complaint lodged by a woman. The case pertains to the eviction of an eatery at the 11th Cross Street in Gandhipuram on January 5.
The eviction was carried out under the Commissioner’s supervision, after Shama Saif Ali of Bengaluru lodged a complaint stating that a person who runs an eatery in her land was not vacating the place.
Based on her complaint, the police evicted the eatery and arrested the owner Pillappan and six others.
Lawyer L. Rajendran who appeared on behalf of Pillappan had claimed that a litigation in connection with the land was pending in court and opposed the eviction. On January 10, Kattur Police booked Rajendran based on a complaint by Shama that he tried to threaten her and grab the land under dispute.
Lawyers meet CoP
On Wednesday, the representatives of the Coimbatore Bar Association and various associations had met the Police Commissioner and said that the police had registered the case without conducting proper investigation into the petition. They added that the lawyers would not be able to practice freely if cases were registered without proper inquiry into petitions.
Mr. Viswanathan has promised to look into the allegation, they said.
