‘Everyone Has Started Judging The Judges’: Madras HC On Fishermen Protesting Against Its Loop Road Encroachment Decision

The Madras High Court observed on Wednesday that the public has begun judging the judges.

The statement was made in light of the sit-in protests staged by fisherfolk in the area around Loop Road in Chennai since last week, as well as the growing negative public perception of a previous Court decision to remove fish stalls from the area.

A suo motu petition has been heard by a bench of Justices SS Sundar and PB Balaji for the removal of fisherfolk and their stalls from Loop-road off the Marina Beach in Chennai.

“Fishermen are claiming as if it’s their right because that’s what they’ve been taught. Everyone has started judging every judge now. People tend to believe anything. As a result, the state should exercise some discretion. They (fisherfolk) need to understand that they have been encroaching on public property,” the High Court stated.

As a result, the Court instructed the Tamil Nadu government to use discretion and rid the area of encroachers.

The Court further stated that if the government was reluctant to remove the encroachers because it feared that opposition parties would raise the issue in the State assembly, it was “ready to implead every political party here.”

“This is something that always happens. Every topic is sensationalised or politicised. Our order is solely for the benefit of the public. That’s all we’ve done,” the Court stated.

It accepted Additional Advocate General J Ravindran’s submission that as an interim measure, the fish vendors would be restricted to the western side of the road and there would be no obstruction to vehicular traffic.

Most Madras High Court judges use the Loop Road to get to the Court from their official houses on Greenways Road area.