CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has directed the state police to take stern action against those who indulge in land-grabbing and lawyers who involve in such illegal activities.
“This court directs the DGP to issue suitable instructions to the station house officers to take stern action against not only the parties concerned but also against the lawyers who indulge in such activities,” Justice Sunder Mohan said in a recent order.
“The sequence of events narrated by the parties reveals a painful situation. The lawyers have acted as henchmen for the litigants. They are expected to use the brain and not the brawn,” the judge deplored. He, further, noted the government advocate has informed this has been done in an organised manner, where the lawyers have “created WhatsApp groups to indulge in such activities” and get away under the cloak of this profession. He urged the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and lawyers associations to cooperate with the police officials in dealing with such activities “with an iron fist”.
The directions were issued while granting bail to three persons, including a lawyer, in a case in which a group of lawyers barged into disputed premises and damaged articles and CCTV cameras, besides assaulting the employees and security guards.
The matter pertains to the dispute between RB Srinivasan who runs Marg Limited, and Sushil Lalwani and Aarthi Lalwani on the purchase of the land measuring 65,836 sqft at Karapakkam on OMR. Sushil and Aarthi were stated to have purchased the land for Rs 51.92 crore. Subsequently, sale deeds were executed in favour of eight companies which were special purpose vehicle companies belonging to the duo.
