After daylong drama in the court campus, 12 protesting advocates, most of them from Madurai, were arrested
Two women lawyers and one of their kids being taken in a police van after they were arrested in Chennai. (Photo: DC)
Chennai: Perturbed over a group of advocates staging an agitation in the Chief Justice’s court holding placards for declaring Tamil as court language, the Madras high court on Monday directed the central and state governments to take immediate steps to hand over the security cover for the court campus to the Central Security Industrial Security Force, (CISF) or a similar force and declare the campus a ‘high security zone’.
The first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice T.S. Sivagnanam, initiating suo motu writ proceeding, said of CISF security cover, “This is necessary for smooth functioning of the High Court as continuance of such incidents, as we are witnessing today, are not only destructive and disrespectful to the court, but affects the very ability of the court to dispense justice. It sets a bad example for the other litigants who attend in person and dilutes the authority of the court”.
After daylong drama in the court campus, 12 protesting advocates, most of them from Madurai, were arrested by the police late Monday evening. Amid the rush of advocates and litigants trying to reach various courtrooms for their hearings, nearly 20 advocates stormed at around 10.20 am into the court room of the first bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, holding placards highlighting their decade old demand of making Tamil the court language. Covering their mouth with black cloth, the advocates refused to leave the court.
A lawyer, V. Murugan, speaking in English and Tamil, threatened to continue squatting in the court till the demand for Tamil as official language of the high court was met. Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul explained to him that their grievance cannot be redressed in the court. However, the lawyers continued to sit in the visitors’ gallery and the advocate gallery in the court hall till late in the evening.
After completing court proceedings, the Chief Justice has summoned the Registrar General and other officials to discuss the issue. At 5 pm, Madras High court Advocate’s Association president, R.C. Paul Kanagaraj, rushed to the court and held two rounds of talks with the agitating the advocates. However, they refused to relent and vowed to continue the agitation.
The police swung into action later to arrest 12 agitating advocates. M. Aiyappan, a member of – Uyar Needhi Mandrathil Tamil-Poratta Kuzhu, said “We want to Central and state governments to enact Tamil as court language in the state. Though Hindi has been used as court language in Hindi speaking states, Tamil was not given the same status in Tamil Nadu. The advocates have been staging protests for over 10 years. However, their demand has not been met. Hence, we have resorted to this agitation hoping that Chief Justice will redress our grievance.”
Among the arrested two were women. The arrested include Bhagat Singh, Murugesan, M. Aiyappan, Ezhil Arasu, Porkodi, Bharathi and Selvakumar. The three-year-old child of Bhagat Singh and Bharathi was also sent to prison along with the mother.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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