CHENNAI: The Madras High Court directed the state government to file a status report regarding the transfer of country-made bombs to the accused in connection to the BSP leader Armstrong murder case. The arms were allegedly given to the accused on the court premises.

A division bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and N Jothiraman heard a batch of petitions seeking to quash the Goondas Act provisions slapped against the accused booked in the murder case.

During an earlier hearing, the police had submitted that the accused persons used the High Court campus to exchange country-made bombs. The bench questioned the status of the investigation in this regard.

Additional Advocate General (AAG) P Kumaresan submitted that a vehicle was seized in this regard and the investigation is still under way.

Citing how sensitive and sensational the case is, the AAG objected to quashing the preventive detention, adding that the lives of accused persons are in danger and letting them out of jail may lead to untoward consequences. He also sought the court to adjourn the matter as the investigation is under way.

However, the petitioners disagreed with the submission and sought the court to fix a time limit to dispose of the petitions alleging that the police are seeking time to prolong the hearing.

The bench directed the police to file a status report on the investigation regarding the bomb exchange and posted the matter to January 27 for further submission.