: Justice R. Mahadevan of the Madras High Court on Monday gave oral directions to the Director General of Police (DGP) to ensure safety of the public and the protesters who are conducting pro-jallikattu protests “peacefully” on Marina and other parts of the State. However, the judge made it clear that the police are at liberty to take action against miscreants creating trouble.
The single judge gave the oral directions while hearing a criminal original petition moved by G. Pavendhan and T. Senthil Kumar, who claimed to be participants in the protest. The petitioners prayed the court to direct the police not to harass those who are protesting peacefully.
Contending that the police had become unruly overnight and have started using force to disperse protesters, advocate Sankarasubbu said, “The protesters are not affiliated to any political party. The government, which had been supporting the protest since January 15, has changed its stand overnight. Now, they want the protesters to withdraw and have been violently attacking them since Monday morning.”
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The counsel said the government was not patient enough to permit the protesters to come to a conclusion on withdrawing their agitation after going through the contents of the legislation/ordinance on jallikattu.
Denying the allegations, Advocate General R. Muthukumarasway said, “It is true that the government supported the cause. Till January 19, the protest was led by students. But after that, as per intelligence report, anti-social elements took control of the protest. Majority of the students decided to withdraw their protest. On Monday, at about 5.30 a.m., a request was made to the protesters to leave the place. They were informed that a Bill will be tabled in the Assembly to replace the ordinance and it would be made an Act. But they refused to leave the place.”
At this point, Justice Mahadevan intervened and asked the Advocate General: “Why did the police disturb the protesters and interfere in it when it was going on peacefully. The safety of the public must be the first priority.”
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Violent turn
The Advocate General submitted that though the protest had been peaceful, it turned violent on Monday with the protesters pelting stones at the police. “The police retaliated. It worsened after 25 vehicles parked at the Ice House police station were burnt by the protesters. Petrol bombs were also used at the Royapettah fish market. About 25 police personnel have been injured and admitted in government general hospitals,” he added.
Contesting the claim, Mr. Sankarasubbu said that the protesters were fighting for a cause, and once it was achieved, they would withdraw their protest. “They are not unruly elements. It is the tactics of the police to term the protesters as unruly elements,” he charged.
After hearing the submissions, Justice Mahadevan asked Mr. Sankarasubbu to get instructions from the protesters as to how long they would continue their protest or when would they conclude their protest in the wake of the State government passing the Amendment Act. The court then posted the petition to Tuesday for further hearing.
Noting that the court decided to hear the petition only in the interests of Tamil culture and language, Justice Mahadevan wanted the protesters to ensure that no untoward incidents took place so that the dignity of Tamil could be upheld.
Earlier, a similar motion moved by senior advocate R. Gandhi and advocate V. Suresh before the First Bench of Chief Justice S.K. Kaul and Justice M. Sundar was not taken up for hearing as the single judge was already seized of the issue.