Madurai
A public interest litigation petition was filed before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday seeking CBI probe into the Thoothukudi police firing. A division bench of Justices C. T. Selvam and A. M. Basheer Ahamed admitted the petition.
The court, while expressing its concern over the issue, observed that sadness had befallen the entire State. As the principal seat was seized of the matter, the court wanted to place the petition, along with similar petitions, before it for further hearing.
The petitioner, Henry Thomas of Thoothukudi, said that since Sterlite Copper’s inception in 1995, people of Thoothukudi faced health hazards The plant had been shut at least five times in the past due to environmental issues. Following the plans for commissioning an additional unit, people of Thoothukudi took to the streets agitating against Sterlite seeking its closure.
The protests were peaceful for 99 days and the 100th day also started on a peaceful one. Men, women and children participated in a peaceful march. But the police personnel opened fire to curb the protest, killing at least 13 people. The petitioner contended that the guidelines laid down in the PUCL case for investigating officers were not followed by the CB CID probing the case and wanted the investigation to be transferred to CBI.