The Madras High Court on Friday called for the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage of the altercation between Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) cadre and a lawyer outside the High Court premises on October 7, when party leader Thol. Thirumavalavan was leaving the spot after attending a protest.
Justice N. Sathish Kumar directed Additional Public Prosecutor K.M.D. Muhilan to produce the CCTV footage from all cameras in and around the place of the incident by October 27, 2025. He also directed the Esplanade police to submit a status report on the next date of hearing.
The directions were issued on a writ petition filed by Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (BCTNP) Co-Chairman K Balu seeking a direction to the Greater Chennai City Police to act against all those who were “issuing threats to him” ever since he demanded action against Mr. Thirumavalavan by holding the latter responsible for the altercation outside the court premises.
The petitioner’s counsel R Elavarasan told the court his client had received death threats for speaking against the VCK leader and therefore, a police complaint was lodged on October 15. The counsel insisted that the police must act against such threats and also provide protection to Mr. Balu.
When the judge wanted to know the action taken by the police with respect to the altercation outside the court premises, the APP replied the police had registered two First Information Reports (FIRs) on the basis of a complaint and a counter-complaint lodged by the lawyer and the VCK cadre.
On the other hand, Mr. Elavarasan said the VCK cadre had assaulted the lawyer and damaged his two-wheeler outside the High Court campus and also chased him inside the BCTNP premises, where again he was assaulted. He said the entire incident would have got recorded by the CCTV cameras. Therefore, the judge called for the CCTV footage to ascertain the veracity of the claim.
Published – October 18, 2025 01:34 am IST
