CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Tuesday stayed further proceedings of a trial court that had summoned 31 advocates in connection with the clashes that took place on the High Court campus in 2009.
Justice AD Jagdish Chandira issued the stay order after the aggrieved advocates moved a petition to quash the interim final report, filed by the CBI, and also the summons issued by the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court to all 31 lawyers accused in the case.
The judge issued notices to the CBI and adjourned the petition for four weeks.
According to the petitioners, on February 19, 2009, there was unrest due to police intervention inside the
High Court campus.
The advocates in their petition said, though the High Court had directed the CBI to probe the allegations against both advocates and police, the investigating agency has filed the charge-sheet only against the lawyers and the probe against police is still pending.
“The CBI investigation is tainted, biased, shabby and highly unsatisfactory and the impugned interim final report appears very strange to known- law. The CBI had prepared and drafted it with a motive against the legal fraternity,” they said.
Recently, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Egmore issued summons to 31 advocates accused in the clashes to appear before the court by February 28 to collect the interim charge-sheets filed by the CBI.
‘List steps taken to appoint chief to SAUs’
Chennai: The Madras High Court has directed the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department, Social Audit Society and other authorities concerned to file a report with regard to the steps taken to appoint an independent director to the Social Audit Units (SAU) in the State. A division bench gave the direction when a PIL petition from Praxis Institute for Participatory Practices of Kilpauk, came up for hearing on Tuesday.
Originally, the Institute had filed a writ petition questioning under what authority S Annamalai Premkumar, additional director of the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, is holding the post of head of the Social Audit Unit, which is involved in auditing social welfare programmes. The petitioner had contended that the appointment was illegal and violative of the scheme of the relevant Act and Rules.
The appointment of Premkumar, an additional director of the DRDPR, which is the implementing agency of the scheme, is illegal. Unless the social audit structure and process is given autonomous status from government control and interference, the very purpose of doing social audit would be subverted and the goals of the scheme would stand frustrated, the petitioner had further contended. A single judge on December 20 last year, had granted an interim stay on the appointment. Premkumar was relieved from the post and following an undertaking that an independent person would be posted, the judge on January 18 last, had closed the quo-warranto.
Report sought on relaying of roads
Chennai: Irked over the practice of laying roads on the existing ones and heightening them, which result in rain water entering the houses and the sub-standard roads getting damaged within six months, a division bench of the Madras High Court has called for a report giving details on the amount spent for laying roads, carrying out repairs and their maintenance, more particularly, the guidelines followed for the same. The bench of Justices S Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad gave the direction, when a PIL petition from R Murali of Perungalathur came up for hearing.