Eight years after the police firing that killed 13 and injured more than 100 anti-Sterlite protesters in Thoothukudi, not a single officer has been suspended, let alone prosecuted, leaving the victims in an eternal hope for justice. The story of these eight years reveals the harrowing truth of institutional decay, where justice is systematically dismantled by the very apparatus meant to deliver it. The interplay between the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the commission of inquiry, the judiciary, and the state government unfolds with a striking irony that cannot be missed.
The anti-Sterlite agitation against Vedanta’s copper smelter had entered its 100th day when police opened fire on protesters on May 22, 2018. Protesters were slapped with criminal cases, arbitrarily detained, and allegedly tortured. The state government swiftly offered compensation and ordered a commission of inquiry under former judge Aruna Jagadeesan. A parallel criminal case on the killings, initially handled by the CB-CID, was later transferred to the CBI. The NHRC took suo motu cognisance of the incident, only to later close the matter, citing the parallel inquiries by the commission and the CBI.
The Jagadeesan Commission’s report was tabled in the Assembly only after four years. Its findings were unequivocal. The report termed the police firing a “dastardly act”, rejected the police claim of self-defence as baseless, and found officials guilty of tampering with evidence.
It held 21 officials responsible, including 17 police personnel, the then district collector, and three deputy tahsildars, and recommended criminal prosecution and departmental action against them. The then chief minister called the episode a black spot in the state’s history and vowed to expedite action against the police. However, the recommendation to prosecute those responsible was, ironically, ignored. None of the officers held responsible by the commission has faced action to date.
The CBI’s role deserves particular scrutiny because it is where impunity was effectively laundered into the language of procedure. A year after the commission’s findings, the CBI chargesheet named 101 protesters who were part of the crowd subjected to the crackdown, while naming only one police officer, that too only in connection with the detention and alleged torture of 94 youths, not the firing itself.
Henri Tiphagne of People’s Watch approached the high court seeking to reopen the case closed by the NHRC. The court directed the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption to investigate the assets of the officials held responsible. However, the order did not survive beyond a month, as the Supreme Court, acting on an appeal filed by one of the accused, stayed the high court’s direction and quashed the assets probe.
The Sterlite plant remains shut following a Supreme Court order; most cases against protesters have been dropped, and compensation has been paid to victims. But what the state has failed to do, across three changes of government and four elections since 2018, is suspend even a single officer or prosecute anyone for the firing.
For the survivors seeking justice, and for the people of Thoothukudi, these eight years tell a simple yet damning story. Justice was denied by the NHRC, delayed by the CBI, and is being decimated by constitutional courts. The anniversary is not a commemoration. It is an indictment, and it remains unresolved.
Ashish Reddy & Edgar Kaiser
(The authors are human rights lawyers at People’s Watch)
Footnote is a weekly column that discusses issues relating to Tamil Nadu
