The Madras High Court has stepped in to examine serious allegations of police excesses against lawyers and law students who were detained during protests in Chennai last month.
The case arose after sanitary workers of the Greater Chennai Corporation staged demonstrations outside the Ripon Building in August 2025, opposing the move to privatise conservancy services. Several lawyers and law students who had gone to extend legal support were allegedly picked up by the police on the night of August 13. Their detention prompted the filing of a habeas corpus petition before the High Court.
The petitioners alleged that two women, Advocate Aarthy and law graduate Valarmathi, were brutally assaulted while in custody, with one of them falling unconscious and later being admitted to the hospital. The police, however, denied the charges and instead accused the protestors of rioting, damaging buses, and assaulting a woman constable.
The Division Bench of Justice M.S. Ramesh and Justice V. Lakshminarayanan, however, made it clear that while police are empowered to make arrests, they cannot cross the line, stating, “While the Police are entitled to arrest persons for infraction of laws, they are certainly not entitled to assault those who have been arrested.”
Noting that allegations of assault could not be fairly investigated by the same police who effected the arrests, the Court on September 2 appointed Justice V. Parthiban (Retd.) as a one-man commission to independently examine whether the arrested lawyers and students were assaulted after being taken into custody. The Tamil Nadu Legal Services Authority has been directed to extend assistance to the inquiry, which the Court said should be completed without delay.
The State Government has been asked to pay an initial honorarium of ₹2,00,000 to the commission through the Commissioner of Police. The matter will next be heard on September 17, 2025.
Case Title: S.Vijay Vs. The Commissioner of Police and Anr.
Case No: H.C.P.No.1599 of 2025
Coram: Justice M.S. Ramesh and Justice V.Lakshminarayanan
Advocate for Appellant: Adv. Ramesh Umapathy
Advocate for Respondent: AAG J.Ravindran, APP R.Muniyapparaj, GA Santhosh
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