Justice A. Selvam, the administrative judge of the Madras High Court Bench here, hoisted the national flag on the court campus during the 68th Republic Day celebrations on Thursday and accepted the guard of honour accorded to him by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel.
Earlier, the judge garlanded the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. He was accompanied by Justices R. Subbiah, N. Kirubakaran, M. Duraiswamy, V.M. Velumani, S.S. Sundar, P. Kalaiyarasan and J. Nisha Banu. Law officers, advocates, court staff and their family members participated in the celebrations and cultural events.
A blood donation camp was organised in the dispensary attached to the court complex. The spectators were enthralled by the daredevilry of CISF personnel who demonstrated various skills such as dismantling and assembling firearms such as pistols and an AK47 within a minute even while blindfolded.. The commandos showed how they would assemble firearms with a single hand in case of suffering injuries on one of their hands during encounter. Demonstration of methods adopted to handle an unruly crowd, breaking of burning tiles and pot- breaking with a round kick received applause from the audience. The CISF team also exhibited a self-defence system developed by them with a combination of steps followed in martial arts such as aikido, judo, karate and sports such as boxing and wrestling. This was their first Republic Day demonstration ever since they took over the security of the court building from the local police on July 4 last.