Chennai: Madras high court has dismissed as premature a plea moved by former DMK MLA and former minister V Senthilbalaji and his brother R V Ashok Kumar seeking a direction to Tamil Nadu police not to harass them under the guise of investigating pending cases against them, including for the alleged horse-trading attempts to topple TVK govt.High court had granted conditional anticipatory bail to the petitioners in the alleged horse-trading case and observed that custodial interrogation was not necessary, yet police are conducting searches against them, said senior advocate N R Elango.According to the petitioners, minister Aadhav Arjuna publicly said that scores would be settled in connection with the Karur incident, in which 41 people were killed during a TVK rally last year. They added that pursuant to those remarks, instructions had been issued to police to arrest them in one case or another.Elango submitted that the petitioners are not seeking to obstruct lawful investigation, but if their presence is required in connection with any pending case, police should be directed to issue a notice under BNSS before requiring their appearance. Assuring the court that the petitioners would cooperate with investigations, they sought direction to police not to harass them in the name of investigation.Representing the state, public prosecutor John Sathyan contended that the petitioners have sought a broad and general direction while making several allegations and sought time to file a detailed counter-affidavit.
