MHC stays order on one-man commission for probe into police attack on lawyers
The issue began when lawyers and law students were allegedly illegally detained and assaulted by the police for expressing solidarity with the protesting sanitation workers;
Madras High Court (File Image)
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has stayed an order that constituted a one-person commission to investigate allegations of police brutality against lawyers who were supporting a sanitation workers’ protest.
The issue began when lawyers and law students were allegedly illegally detained and assaulted by the police for expressing solidarity with the protesting sanitation workers. This led to a habeas corpus petition being filed in the Madras High Court.
A Division Bench of Justices MS Ramesh and V Lakshminarayanan, hearing the case, had earlier ordered the formation of a one-person commission headed by retired Justice V Bharathidasan. The bench had directed that the commission investigate the allegations of police attacking the lawyers during the protests and submit its report promptly.
Challenging this order, the Police Commissioner and the Inspector of the Periamet Police Station filed petitions seeking to quash the directive to form the commission.
Upon hearing these petitions, a bench of Justices Nisha Banu and S Sounthar issued a stay, effectively putting the operation of the one-person commission on hold until further hearings. The matter is expected to be taken up again for detailed arguments