CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Friday refused to extend the interim stay on the order constituting a one-man commission headed by a retired judge to probe into the alleged police excess during the arrest of sanitary workers, who were protesting against the privatisation of solid waste management in two zones of Greater Chennai Corporation, on August 13.
The first bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan, while hearing the petitions seeking a probe by the State Human Rights Commission into the alleged excess and the habeas corpus petition (HCP) which was tagged, turned down the plea made by Additional Advocate General (AAG) J Ravindran to extend the interim stay on the order passed by a bench of Justices MS Ramesh and V Lakshminarayanan. The panel could proceed with the inquiry, and any materials that the state had could be placed before the commission, the bench said.
The CJ also declined to accept the request of the AAG to appoint a judge from another state as head of the commission.
HC bench didn’t give cops chance to submit reply
“You can’t question the wisdom of the judges here,” the CJ remarked. Ravindran vehemently opposed the setting up of the commission headed by retired HC Judge V Parthiban stating, that the HCP, upon which it was ordered, had become infructuous once the detained advocates and law students were released.
He said, the bench then, had not given an opportunity to the respondent police to file a counter-affidavit and submit its reply. The bench of Justices MS Ramesh and V Lakshminarayanan had ordered the setting up of the commission in order to bring out the truth behind the allegations of harassment and torture of 11 lawyers and law students and the counter-allegations of harassment made by the police.
However, another bench comprising Justices J Nisha Bhanu and S Sounthar recently granted interim stay on the order based on the petitions filed by the police against the order of the previous bench. However, they refused to extend the interim order early in the week, stating that the HCP was tagged with another petition in the first bench headed by the chief justice. The CJ bench adjourned the hearing to October 10, 2025.