Advocates stage rail roko in Madurai

Lawyers of the Madurai Bar Association on Wednesday staged a rail blockade at the Madurai Junction to protest against the Kerala government.About 100 lawyers, led by its president Dharmaraj and secretary A K Ramasamy suddenly emerged on one of the platforms and stopped the incoming Chennai-bound Guruvayur Express at 10.40am. They later tied black flags on the locomotive of the train.A group of lawyers sat on the track and shouted slogans against the Union and Kerala governments for not implementing the Supreme Court's order to raise the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam. They also urged both governments to implement the order with immediate effect without any delay.The rail roko affected train services at the station for 10 minutes. Police arrested 89 lawyers but they were released later in the evening. The lawyers also planned to conduct a protest by locking the courts on Thursday.Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Advocates' Association president S Prabakaran said his association would soon file a contempt petition in the Supreme Court to punish the Kerala government for not implementing its order to increase the water level. Addressing media persons here, he condemned the alleged attacks against Tamils, who are residing in the Kerala. "Since the Kerala government has totally failed to protect the Tamils in Kerala and there is rule of law of prevailing in the state, the Union government should dissolve the state government by using Article 356 of the constitution," he added.