The Madras High Court on Tuesday stayed all further proceedings in a case pending against 32 advocates and 5 policemen before an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) at Egmore in connection with a clash between lawyers and policemen inside the High Court campus on February 19, 2009. Justice A.D. Jagadish Chandira passed the order on a petition filed by one of the advocates S. Mahendran, 36, accusing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of having conducted a “substandard” investigation and deliberately probing the case in a biased manner in order to harm the legal fraternity with false accusations.
“The petitioner submits that on February 19, 2009 more than 100 practising lawyers sustained grievous injuries and got admitted in government and private hospitals. Lot of vehicles were also damaged by the police constables led by higher officials. This being the case, it is a mockery to file an interim final report against advocates,” he said.
Pointing out that the ACMM had issued summons to the advocates insisting upon their appearance on Thursday, the petitioner urged the court to set aside the interim final report filed against the 32 advocates and consequently direct the police to reinvestigate the case in a fair manner. Till then, he urged the court to stay all further proceedings.