CHENNAI: In a dramatic turn of events at the Madras High Court, Justice GR Swaminathan on Wednesday summoned the staff of DVAC Director A Arun after a court bailiff was made to wait for over two hours to serve summons. The visibly angry judge refused to hear any submissions until the responsible staff members appear in court.
According to court proceedings, the bailiff had gone to serve summons on Arun, who is also the former Greater Chennai Commissioner of Police. The official was made to wait in the DVAC director’s office from 3:05 pm to 5:15 pm yesterday. “The staff who made the bailiff wait must appear before the court today itself,” Justice Swaminathan insisted.
Though Arun appeared in person Wednesday and Government Counsel R John Sathyan attempted to make submissions, the judge refused to hear them until the concerned staff is produced before the court. The case has been passed over until then.
The latest incident stems from a May 20 order of a summer vacation Bench comprising Justices GR Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayanan, which had expressed shock over a preventive detention order issued by Arun (in his capacity as then Chennai Police Commissioner) under the Goondas Act. The Bench had summoned Mr Arun to appear in court on May 27 – today – to offer his explanation.
The detention order was passed against real estate developer Santhosh Sharma of Lokaa Developers, who is facing a criminal case filed by S Poornajothi, wife of DMDK Rajya Sabha member LK Sudhish. The case relates to the construction of a high-rise residential complex ‘M One’ on a jointly owned parcel of land in Madhavaram, Chennai.
“The preventive detention order shocks our conscience,” the judges had observed, questioning how a criminal case over a property dispute could be used to brand Sharma a ‘goonda.’ The court is now awaiting the appearance of the DVAC director’s staff before proceeding further.