Police station, two-wheelers set on fire by Madras High Court lawyers at the court campus on February 19, 2009. | Photo credit: The Hindu
While acknowledging the arduous nature of the work done by police personnel, the Madras High Court on Thursday (Nov 27, 2025) said uniformed personnel, who are expected to maintain peace and provide security and confidence to all citizens, should not behave like “human machines” and end up using excessive force.
Justice M. Nirmal Kumar made the observation while quashing criminal cases registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against several police constables and many lawyers following an unprecedented violent clash between them at the Madras High Court campus on 19 February 2009.
The judge recalled that the incident occurred when a section of lawyers here were vocally supporting the cause of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka. Even before that, there was growing resentment between lawyers and the police over the heavy security deployed at the Supreme Court campus after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
On 17 February 2009, a group of lawyers pelted former Union Minister Subramanian Swamy, a staunch opponent of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), while he was arguing a case related to the Chidambaram Thillai Natarajar temple, in person before a division bench headed by Justice PK Misraar.
The incident led to the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against 14 named advocates and six others. The police arrested one of the advocates from his residence and launched a manhunt for the others. On February 19, 2009, Mr. Swamy was scheduled to visit the High Court again and therefore security was beefed up.
Increased security ensured that he visited the court and left the premises without any untoward incident. However, after his departure, a large group of advocates visited the High Court police station and offered to surrender the lawyers named in the FIR registered in the February 17 incident.
When the police tried to take the advocates in question into custody, the lawyers demanded Mr. Swamy’s arrest as a pre-condition for the handover. The police immediately registered an FIR also against Mr. Swamy under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
However, the lawyers continued to press for his arrest and the situation suddenly went out of control when some of them threw shoes and stones at the police personnel besides raising abusive slogans in foul language. Police initially used mild force to disperse the crowd.
Tensions escalated when the High Court police station was set on fire and fire and rescue services failed to extinguish the blaze. That was all over, the police opened tear gas shells and opened lathi charge which led to the situation becoming belligerent and explosive.
Lawyers, court staff, litigants, journalists and even a Supreme Court judge suffered blood injuries, forcing the Full Bench (consisting of three judges) headed by the then Acting Chief Justice SK Mukhopadhyay to hold a special session at 6:40 pm on the day of the incident for ordering a CBI probe.
Noting that nearly 15 years had passed since the incident and both the police and lawyers had buried the hatchet over the years, Justice Kumar said there would be no useful purpose in continuing the trial of the cases booked by the CBI against the lawyers and police constables.
“Re-inflaming the violent incident will not bring anything good to either of them. In addition, given the summary of the cases based on witness statements and collected materials, it is enough to state that it leads nowhere. In the interests of justice, this court is inclined to quash the proceedings,” concluded the judge.
Published – 27 Nov 2025 20:59 IST
