“21 Officials Face Action!” refers to a report filed by the Tamil Nadu government in the Chennai High Court, highlighting action taken against 21 officials regarding an incident related to the Thoothukudi police firing.
The report, presented by Justice Aruna Jagadeesan’s directive, details actions initiated against these officials following an incident that occurred on May 22, 2018, during a protest at the Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi. During this demonstration, conducted against the functioning of the Sterlite plant, 13 individuals lost their lives due to police firing. In connection with this incident, the National Human Rights Commission forwarded the case for investigation.
During the previous investigation into this case, Justice Aruna Jagadeesan, in her capacity as head of the inquiry, issued directives to the Tamil Nadu government to provide explanations regarding the actions taken in response to the report. Subsequently, V. Venkatesh, the district collector who was in office, Shaillesh Kumar Yadav from the Southern Region I.G., Kapil Kumar Saratkar from the District S.P. and Shekar, the Deputy Collector, indicated action against 21 individuals concerning the incident at the Sterlite plant.
Following this, the District Collector indicated action against 17 police officers and three revenue officials, summing up to a total of 21 individuals being subjected to action. The court’s judges raised questions regarding the status of the case involving the Police Registration made by the CBI. They inquired if only one police officer is being charged or if other police officers are being let off. The judges pointed out that it was unclear whether the officials facing allegations are still working or have been relieved from their duties.
Regarding the government’s report on action taken, the court summoned S. Sileshkumar Yadav, a police official from the Thoothukudi district who had shown remarkable courage in dealing with issues when advocates faced problems at the Madurai Bench of the High Court. He was asked how he got involved in this particular case.
The judges stressed the need for clarification from the Tamil Nadu government regarding the charges against the 21 individuals involved in the ongoing proceedings. They sought information about their involvement in the firing incident and requested the government to provide clarification. The court scheduled the hearing for the investigation of the case to be held on December 11.