MADURAI: The Madurai bench of Madras High Court on Monday sought the TVK government’s opinion on the decision taken by the previous government to drop disciplinary action against three officers in the police firing that claimed 13 lives during the anti-Sterlite protest in Thoothukudi in 2018.
A bench of justices C V Karthikeyan and R Sakthivel gave the direction after the government filed a compliance affidavit to an interim order passed by the court on July 23, seeking response on the steps taken by the state pursuant to the report submitted by the one man inquiry commission headed by Justice Aruna Jagadeesan (retd). The response had been sought on a batch of petitions filed to ensure justice for the victims.
Advocate General Vijay Narayan informed the court that the commission had confirmed police excess during the protest and had recommended departmental action against 17 officials, including the then Thoothukudi collector N Venkatesh, then Inspector General of Police (South Zone) Shailesh Kumar Yadav, then Deputy Inspector General C Kapil Kumar Saratkar.
Based on the report, the government initiated disciplinary proceedings against 21 officials, but dropped further action against the three officers through GOs issued in 2024 and 2025. Proceedings against the other officials are pending at various stages, he added.
Further, he informed the government had already paid Rs 25 lakh as compensation each to the family members of the 13 deceased and Rs 5 lakh each to 40 grievously injured persons and Rs 1.5 lakh each to 64 persons with minor injuries. The then Cabinet decided not to grant further financial assistance to the victims, he added.
In response, counsels representing the petitioners sought time to file a rejoinder.
Stating that the CBI’s probe was also unsatisfactory and a protest petition against the CBI’s final report is pending before the lower court in Madurai, they suggested that the present government could appoint a special investigation team. Granting time to the petitioners to file rejoinder, the judges adjourned the case to September 10.