CHENNAI: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) cannot close the inquiry into Thoothukudi firing in which anti-Sterlite protesters were gunned down by the police merely because the State government paid the compensation to victims’ families, said the Madras High Court.

It then directed the government to serve the status report of disciplinary actions initiated against the erring officials to the petitioner.

A division bench comprising Justice SS Sundar and Justice N Senthilkumar once again stressed the State that in cases involving human rights violations, the compensation should be recovered from the erring individual.

When the case came up for hearing, Additional Advocate General J Ravindran submitted that the relevant documents could not be produced before the court because the Parliament election was notified for the State. He then sought the court adjourn the hearing until after the election.

After the submission, the bench posted the matter to April 25 for further submission.

Human rights activist Henri Tiphagne had filed a petition against an order passed by the NHRC, on October 25, 2018, closing the suo motu proceedings it had initiated to inquire into the Thoothukudi police firing in which 13 anti-Sterlite protesters were shot dead.

The activist sought to re-investigate the case on the basis of his complaint. Tiphagne also impleaded all the police personnel and public servants named in the report submitted by the panel headed by retired judge Aruna Jagadeesan in compliance with the court’s order.