CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has quashed the case registered against film director V Gowthaman and 25 others for allegedly staging a protest by locking the Kathipara flyover in Guindy.

The protest was held in 2017 under the leadership of Gowthaman, who is also the general secretary of the Tamil Perarasu Party. The demonstrators raised various demands, including opposition to NEET, resistance to hydrocarbon methane projects, issues faced by fishermen and the protection of farmers' rights. As part of the protest, the Kathipara flyover was locked, leading to traffic disruption

Following the protest, the St Thomas Mount police registered a case against Gowthaman and others. Seeking to quash the proceedings, Gowthaman moved the Madras High Court.

When the petition came up for hearing before Justice AD Jagadish Chandira, counsel C Rajaguru, for the petitioners, submitted that the protest was democratically conducted and that no untoward incidents or violence had occurred.

Opposing the plea, Government Advocate R Vinothraja argued that the protest had disrupted traffic and caused inconvenience to the general public.

After hearing both sides, the judge observed that there had been no progress in the case registered in 2017 and ordered that the proceedings against Gowthaman and the other accused be quashed.