State Law Minister C.Ve. Shanmugam on Tuesday told the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly that the ongoing boycott of courts by lawyers has not hampered judicial proceedings. The Minister said that there were no untoward incidents during the protests, which bore testimony to the State’s ability to maintain law and order. He compared this with the situation that prevailed during the DMK regime when a judge sustained a head injury in a clash between advocates and police on the Madras High Court campus.
Responding to DMK member K.S. Ravichandran during a debate on the demand for grants for law, courts and prisons departments, the Minister said the functioning of courts has not been affected.
When Mr. Ravichandran wanted to know whether the government had implemented the 176 recommendations of the High Court on various issues concerning the judiciary, Mr. Shanmugam said many of the recommendations including deployment of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to maintain the security of the High Court had been implemented.
“Now, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has also got CISF protection. All the courts have generator, and CCTV facilities have been provided at a cost of Rs. 7 crore,” he said.
On the demand for increasing the number of Mahila (women’s) courts, he said four courts were already functioning from the Madras High Court complex.
