‘Police firing in Thoothukudi was pre-planned murder’, PIL filed in SC

Amidst the uproar over the police opening fire on unarmed protesters at Sterlite’s (now Vedanta) Copper Smelter plant in Thoothukudi, a PIL has been filed before the Supreme Court calling for action to be taken against those responsible..The PIL filed by Advocate GS Mani prays for a case of murder under Section 302 IPC to be registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against all concerned officers of the Tamil Nadu Police, specifically the Superintendent of Police of Thoothukudi District and the District Collector. The petition has called this unfortunate incident a “fake encounter or illegal police fire”..In addition to a CBI probe in the matter, the petitioner also prays for compensation to be awarded to the kin of those who lost their lives in the police firing, as well as to the victims who sustained serious injuries. A prayer is also made for the restoration of internet services in the Districts of Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari..The petitioner has placed heavy reliance on media reports and cited various reports from newspapers and video footage from news agencies to claim that the police firing was an illegal act..Noting that the police rules were not followed by the officers, the petition states that instead of firing shots in the air or at the legs of civilians, officers took direct aim at the head and chest of the protesters. Stating that the police has fired at the civilians as though they were terrorists, the petition states,.“[I]t is clear that it is a clear case of pre-planned murder”.The petition also states that the state machinery has failed the people of Thoothukudi, and highlights that it remains unclear as to who ordered the firing on the protesters. Holding the Superintendent of Police and District Collector accountable, the petition states,.“The police fire and killing of more 10 people in Tuticorin district is pre-planned (and) done by highly influential State police officer and the then District collector with the help of respondent state. It is a clear case of murder.”.In his petition, Mani also asks for a status report of the probe to be handed over to the Court in a sealed cover and for the Court to monitor this probe..To underscore the gravity of the police firing, the petition calls it a “rarest of the rare case”..“It is submitted that fake encounter and fake police fire and killing 10 innocent civilians by the state machinery in the name of security is not an ordinary murder case, it is rarest of rare one and is very serious in nature”, the petition states..On May 22, the Tamil Nadu Police officers had opened fire on the protesters in Tuticorin who were staging a demonstration against the Sterlite (now Vedanta) Copper Smelter plant in the region. The protests had entered their hundredth day on the day of the firing..A PIL praying for a probe led by a District judge was filed in the Madras High Court on May 23, while the National Human Rights Commission approached the Delhi High Court on May 24 seeking a direction to carry out a probe in Thoothukudi..Read the petition: