The reverberation of the violence inside the Madras High Court premises on Thursday continued on Friday,as agitated lawyers,protesting the police action against their colleagues,set the partly-gutted police station inside the court campus on fire again,apart from attacking fire service personnel and mediapersons. The advocates raised slogans against City Police Commissioner Radhakrishnan for the alleged police brutality inside the High Court,and also turned their ire against journalists from media organisations which were perceived to have carried reports against them. The advocates demanded action against all police personnel involved in the barbaric attack,including the Police Commissioner. Later,about 150 of the protestors were arrested when they tried to enter the Secretariat complex where the Assembly was witnessing equally uproarious scenes over the incident. While they were arrested and removed,another group set the B4 police station inside the High Court on fire,as also a vehicle belonging to the Fire and Rescue Department. Even as the advocates were accused of being the primary cause for the incident,the judiciary united in condemning the mindless lathi-charge that left many including senior lawyers,litigants,journalists and even judges injured. The police were also seen destroying and damaging vehicles parked inside the campus. The Registrar General of Madras High Court issued a statement strongly denying allegations that Acting Chief Justice S J Mukhopadhaya had given oral permission to the police to mildly cane the protestors,if required. No permission was given by the Acting Chief Justice or Registrar General or any other officer of the High Court to the police to enter the High Court. Any contrary statement given by anyone including the police should be ignored, read the statement. The Bench,comprising the ACJ,and Justices V Dhanapalan and K Chandru,convened the court late on Thursday evening and directed the Executive to register the case as a writ petition in the interest of the public,and also in the interest of the institution. The Bench has set up three committees headed by senior administrative staff of the High Court to videograph the damages caused inside the Court premises. It has also directed the case to be listed before it for March 2 by which time the State Government and Registrar General have been asked to submit their reports. The state Government had acceded to the Full Benchs suggestion to hold a CBI probe into the incident on Thursday itself. On Friday,amid the din inside the Assembly over demands to discuss the matter by Opposition parties,Law Minister Durai Murugan informed the House that the CBI would probe the entire chain of events that led to Thursdays incident. Chief Minister M Karunanidhi,recuperating from a back surgery,said the incident was instigated by a group that was conspiring to topple his Government. He assured all cooperation to the higher judiciary in investigating the matter,urging all to maintain peace. Meanwhile,the funeral procession of Tamilvendan,a 30-year-old carpenter who immolated himself two days ago,turned violent when the ATM of a nationalised bank and the local BSNL office were attacked. Several vehicles including Government buses were damaged in the rampage,which also left many from the media injured. According to latest reports,the police had to resort to lathi-charge to disperse the protestors.
