Thoothukudi firing: Madras HC seeks action-taken report from Tamil Nadu government

MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday sought to know from the Tamil Nadu government whether departmental action could be taken against senior government officials against whom action had been recommended by the Justice Aruna Jagadeesan Commission in connection with the 2018 Thoothukudi police firing.

A Division Bench comprising Justices CV Karthikeyan and R Sakthivel raised the issue after the court was informed that disciplinary proceedings initiated against senior officials based on the commission’s recommendations had been dropped.

The issue came up during the hearing of a petition filed by K Kathiresan of PP Kulam in Madurai and others, seeking directions to register criminal cases against those responsible for the police firing and payment of the balance compensation to the victims.

During the hearing, the Advocate General submitted a compliance affidavit filed by the Chief Secretary to the State Government.

According to the affidavit, the government had dropped the disciplinary action recommended against the then Thoothukudi Collector N Venkatesh, then South Zone Inspector General of Police Shailesh Kumar Yadav and DIG Kapil Kumar C Saratkar.

In the case of P Mahendran, then Superintendent of Police, Thoothukudi, the Government directed the inquiry authority to resubmit the inquiry report clearly indicating the findings on the charges.

The Government further informed the court that proceedings against eight other police officials were at the stage of preparation of minutes; while three other officials were awaiting final orders after their explanations had been received. The affidavit also stated that the punishment imposed on a Sub-Inspector was cancelled on appeal and the punishment of a Head Constable, who had been awarded a black mark, was cancelled on appeal. Disciplinary proceedings against three deputy tahsildars had been stayed by the High Court.

The state government also informed the court that, pursuant to its earlier directions, the investigation into the case had been entrusted to the CBI. Following the investigation, the CBI had filed a charge sheet against Thirumalai, the then Inspector of Police, and the case was pending trial.

On compensation, the government informed the court that Rs 25 lakh had already been paid to the families of those killed in the firing as per the Government Orders. It further submitted that, following a Cabinet meeting held on August 29, 2022, orders restricting further financial assistance to the kin of the deceased.

After the submission of the affidavit, petitioner’s counsel Henri Tiphagne sought directions for departmental action against the senior officials, payment of the balance compensation to the victims and investigation be withdrawn from CBI and handed over to STI established by the State Government.

When the Bench sought the government’s response, the Advocate General submitted that the Government needed to examine the orders dropping the disciplinary proceedings, particularly as one of the senior officials concerned had since retired, before making any commitment before the court.

The Bench consequently directed the Advocate General to ascertain the views of the present government on the possibility of taking departmental action against the officials and payment of pending compensation for deceased families and report back to the Court by  September 10, 2026.