Chennai: Madras high court on Monday directed the advocate general to instruct the Director General of Police to ensure the safety of public and the protesters conducting jallikattu protest peacefully.
However, it is open to the police to take action if there is any untoward incident.
Hearing a petition from two protesters G. Pavendhan and Senthil Kumar, Justice R. Mahadevan also directed R. Sankarasubbu, counsel for the petitioners, to get instructions from protesters as to how long they will continue their protest in the wake of the state government passing an ordinance in support of jallikattu.
During the hearing, Sankarasubbu submitted that from January 15, people were staging protest on Marina beach. The protest was peaceful all along and protesters never allowed any politicians to join them.
But suddenly, on Monday, the police started attacking the protesters. People’s life should be protected, the petitioner said. Advocate General R. Muthukumaraswamy submitted that it is not a public interest litigation. The protest was going on since January 15. The state government was supporting jallikattu and had put pressure on the central government to amend the Act.
The CM had also announced that he will inaugurate the jallikattu event in Alanganallur, he added. He said till January 19, it was students, who staged the protest. After January 19, it was some anti-social elements along with students. After the ordinance was passed, number of students withdrew their protest.
Some antisocial elements intruded into the protest, according to Intelligence Report. Today at 5.30 am a request was made to the protesters to leave Marina. A copy of the ordinance was shown to them.
They were also informed that the ordinance will be placed before the Assembly and it will be converted into an Act. However, they refused to leave the place. Some unruly elements started pelting stones at police and there was some altercation, he added.
The judge asked AG why force was used and lathi charge was made on the protestors, who were conducting the protest peacefully. Safety of the public is first. Ensure safety to the public and the peaceful protestors, the judge added.
The advocate general said the police resorted to action after the protest turned violent. The police retaliated against the unruly elements who set 25 vehicles on fire at Ice House police station.
They threw petrol bomb at Royapettah Fish Market. Twenty-five policemen were injured and were admitted to hospital. Two sub-inspectors and four constables have sustained serious injuries. They also burnt Triplicane police station, he added.
“How long you want to continue the protest and who is regulating the protest?” the judge asked Sankarasubbu. “In the interest of culture and Tamil language, this court permitted you to file this petition and inclined to hear it this afternoon.
The protestors must ensure that no untoward incident takes place and if there is any violation, nobody prevents the police to take action. You get instructions from the protestors and inform the court tomorrow,” the judge said. The judge then orally directed the AG to instruct the DGP to ensure safety to the public and the protesters are conducting the protest peacefully.
