The six men were arrested for damaging a backhoe loader that was brought in to remove an illegal flagpole erected outside K Annamalai's residence.
Madras High Court. (Wikimedia)
The Madras High Court on Friday, 10 November, granted conditional bail to BJP leader Amar Prasad Reddy and five others who were arrested for damaging a backhoe loader that was brought in to remove an illegal flagpole erected outside the party’s state president K Annamalai’s residence.
During the hearing, the police objected to granting bail to the accused, saying it would pave the way for them to tamper with the evidence.
However, Justice CV Karthikeyan granted them bail on an undertaking that they would pay ₹2,000 each towards compensation for the damaged earthmover. They were also asked to file an undertaking saying that they would shun such acts in the future.
They are also expected to report to the Kanathur Police Station twice a day — in the morning and the evening.
Counsel for the accused submitted before the court that their arrests were politically motivated. It was also argued that the ruling DMK wanted to prevent the BJP functionaries from participating in Annamalai’s rally.
The court questioned the rationale behind installing a 55-foot-tall flagpole. “Even the public cannot see a flag flying so high. The flagpole would be useful only for the birds to rest at such a height,” the court observed.
The judge granted bail to the six accused after recording the submissions.
BJP workers tried to attack corporation officials who attempted to remove the tall flagpole erected near Annamalai’s house at Pannaiyur in Chennai early on 21 October.
Officials of the highway department claimed that the land on which the flagpole was erected belonged to the department, while the city corporation clarified that no permission was granted to instal the pole.
The police and the civic body removed the flagpole after people in the neighbourhood complained. While it was being removed, the BJP workers pelted stones and damaged the backhoe loader.
Soon after the flagpole was removed, Annamalai vowed to erect 10,000 flagpoles across the state in 100 days.
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