Overview
- Justice M. Nirmal Kumar allowed petitions by advocate Rajnikanth and others, scrapping CBI charge sheets against 28 advocates and four police officers linked to the 2009 clash.
- Citing the right to a speedy trial, the court held that continuing proceedings after a decade and a half would be an abuse of process because the parties have moved on.
- The case stemmed from a February 19, 2009 confrontation on the High Court campus that saw the B4 police station set ablaze, tear gas and lathi charge used, and injuries to lawyers, police, litigants and a judge.
- A Full Bench ordered a CBI investigation that day, yet the matter languished for years, with the FIRs from 2009 taken up in court only in 2025 and no trial underway.
- In closing, the judge cautioned that police must not function as “human machines” and should avoid excessive force even in turbulent situations.