Amidst tensions between lawyers and judges, bomb scare at Madras High Court

If the explosive nature of the faceoff between lawyers and judges at the Madras High Court was not enough, a bomb scare sent shockwaves across the campus yesterday after two suspicious looking parcels were discovered.

When the court staff opened the two parcels, it had alarm clocks in them. But when the packages were opened fully later, letters by prisoners who wrote about their regular detention under the Goondas Act were also found.

With the timer’s beeping sounds from the clocks in the men’s toilet around 11:15 am, the toilets were shut and the bomb squad was called in. The parcel also had a three-page letter with a headline “Kutravaligalin korikkai” (prayer of prisoners). It talks about how there are repeated arrests and detention of prisoners under the Goondas Act.

It also highlights the issue of corruption in prisons by illegally selling of rations by the police. Another parcel of alarm clocks was found near a life in the building.

Meanwhile, in the ongoing tussle between advocates and judges, six students who protested demanding Tamil to be an additional language of the High Court have been suspended from Government Law College in Madurai.

After the protest on September 14, the first bench of the High Court had directed protection of the court premises by the Central Industrial Security Force.  Additional Solicitor General had asked the Director of Legal Studies to take action against the students. Moreover, an enquiry committee was formed by the principal of college and further action would be taken based on the report.