Subramanian Swamy attacked by lawyers in Madras HC

The agitation by Madras High Court lawyers over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue took an ugly turn on Tuesday when a group of advocates shouting pro-LTTE slogans barged into a court hall and abused and roughed up Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy in front of two judges.

Pandemonium prevailed in the court of Justice P K Mishra and Justice K Chandru when the advocates shut the doors from inside and hurled rotten eggs at Swamy, who was there to implead himself in a petition on Chidambaram temple issue.

Order was restored after the shocked judges took exception to the behaviour of the lawyers, who also shouted pro-LTTE and anti-Brahmin slogans. The court proceedings came to a standstill for about 15 minutes because of the incident.

Swamy, who is provided "Z" category security, requested the judges to allow his CRPF guards standing outside to enter the court for his protection, to which the Judges agreed.

He later asked judges for permission to implead himself in the case after which the proceedings were adjourned to Feb 19.

In a report to the Acting Chief Justice of the high court, the two judges recorded the unruly happenings in the court hall in detail and sought appropriate action. They also sent a copy of the report to the Chief Justice of India.

Members of the Madras High Court Advocates Association have been boycotting city courts for the past two weeks over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue.