On Wednesday, Justice T S Thakur pointed out that the Supreme Court will not permit any person including lawyers to hold the High Court of Madras to ransom. The bench also said that the Court will go to any extent to protect the dignity of the profession even taking the help of army. The bench consisted of Justice Thakur and Justice P C Pant who rejected a plea filed by the Government of Tamil Nadu which questioned the decision of High Court that entrusted Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to ensure safety of the premises in Madurai ad Chennai.
The High Court had issued order to CISF to take protection as the state police force were not in the position to stop the rowdy behavior of some lawyers. These lawyers were getting inside the court hall with the family members and raised slogans for making Tamil as the official language of the Court. They also behaved indecently to the Judges. Senior lawyer L Nageswar Rao appeared for the state and submitted that entrusting the protection of the court premises to the CISF would adversely affect the morale of police force in the state. He also pointed out that when the lawyers entered the court hall, the police force could not stop them because of the necessity of taking direction from the High Court before they could interfere.
Justice Thakur asked the lawyer what was the other remedy available to the Chief Justice other than to entrust the duty to CISF. Where the functions of the Court are interrupted by the lawyers, the Court has no option other than to ensure safety, the Court said. Here the police were spectators when the highest judicial body of the state is held to ransom. The lawyer also submitted that as CISF were not familiar with Tamil, they would be unsuccessful in its operation. The Court replied that if CISF fails in its duty, then the Court will take the decision to call BSF, CRPF or event the Indian army.
Jewel Panicker