Aug. 20: The Supreme Court today intervened in the Tamil Nadu lawyers’ strike and ordered the Chennai police commissioner to protect the Madras High Court premises.

A bench presided over by Justice . Santosh Hegde said “not a single lawyer” should be prevented from entering the premises by the strikers and the work of the judges should not be disturbed. Litigants should get free entry into the court premises.

The directive came as the striking lawyers clashed with police outside the high court in Chennai today. A large section of lawyers has been protesting since a new bench of the high court was opened in Madurai last month.

The lawyers are demanding the withdrawal of a 25-point code of conduct drawn up for them and the transfer of the high court chief justice.

Notices were issued to the Tamil Nadu home secretary, police commissioner, presidents of the Madras High Court Advocates’ Association and the Madras Bar Association, and the chairman of the bar council of Tamil Nadu, directing them to file replies within a week on a petition seeking action against striking lawyers.

“Traffic” Ramaswamy, a Chennai citizen, had sought the court’s intervention in banning the lawyers’ strike over formation of the Madurai bench of Madras High Court. Ramaswamy got his name because he used to regulate traffic in public interest. At times, even the police force seeks his help in regulating traffic.

The petitioner’s counsel, Rajendran, who has changed his name to “Elephant” Raja after filing several petitions to prevent cruelty to elephants, had sought an urgent hearing in the Supreme Court. The case will come up after a week.

The petition said the “gang of advocates” had no case to contest and they “manage to halt the proceedings of the court and they also prevent the courts from functioning through their muscle power”.

On the heels of burning the effigy of the chief justice within the high court premises yesterday for which four lawyers were arrested, some advocates met in Chennai early today to condemn the arrests. Renewing their agitation, the lawyers went round the corridors of the high court and shouted slogans condemning the chief justice.

However, things took a serious turn as a group of lawyers came out of the court premises and sat on a dharna on the main road, blocking traffic. A large crowd gathered and efforts by the police to persuade the lawyers to leave were of no avail.

When the police removed a few lawyers from the scene and took them to a van nearby, the others surrounded the vehicle and smashed its windscreen. After a heated exchange, the police decided to let off the protesters taken into the van.

The lawyers are planning a jail bharo agitation across the state on Monday.

Two delegations of MPs from the DMK and its allies met President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Union law minister H.R. Bharadwaj in Delhi yesterday seeking their intervention.