Madurai, Sept 1:
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday directed the Tamil Nadu government to clarify whether departmental action could still be initiated against senior officials against whom action had been recommended by the Justice Aruna Jagadeesan Commission in connection with the 2018 Thoothukudi police firing.
A Division Bench comprising Justices CV Karthikeyan and R Sakthivel raised the issue after being informed that disciplinary proceedings initiated against several senior officials had subsequently been dropped.
The matter came up during the hearing of a petition filed by K Kathiresan of PP Kulam in Madurai and others seeking criminal action against those responsible for the firing and payment of the balance compensation to victims.
The court was informed that the State government had filed a compliance affidavit through the Chief Secretary.
According to the affidavit, disciplinary proceedings against the then Thoothukudi Collector N Venkatesh, then South Zone Inspector General of Police Shailesh Kumar Yadav and DIG Kapil Kumar C Saratkar had been dropped.
In the case of P Mahendran, then Superintendent of Police, Thoothukudi, the government had directed the inquiry authority to resubmit its report with clear findings on the charges.
Proceedings against eight other police officials were at the stage of preparation of minutes, while three others were awaiting final orders after their explanations had been received.
The government also informed the court that disciplinary punishment imposed on a Sub-Inspector had been cancelled on appeal and that a black mark imposed on a Head Constable had also been cancelled on appeal.
Proceedings against three Deputy Tahsildars had been stayed by the High Court.
The court was further informed that the investigation into the firing had been entrusted to the CBI following earlier directions. The CBI subsequently filed a charge sheet against Thirumalai, the then Inspector of Police, and the case is pending trial.
On compensation, the State said Rs 25 lakh had already been paid to the families of those killed in the firing in accordance with government orders. It also referred to a Cabinet decision taken in August 2022 restricting further financial assistance to the families.
Petitioners sought departmental action against the senior officials, payment of pending compensation and transfer of the investigation from the CBI to the State’s Special Investigation Team.
The Advocate General told the Bench that the government would have to examine the earlier orders dropping disciplinary proceedings, particularly as one of the officials concerned had retired.
The Bench directed the Advocate General to ascertain the government’s position on departmental action and pending compensation and report back by September 10, 2026.