Overview
- The District Collector filed an unconditional apology, and senior police officers submitted affidavits asserting there was no willful disobedience of the court's December orders.
- Officials said a prohibitory order was issued to preserve law and order based on intelligence inputs and swelling crowds at the Thiruparankundram hilltop.
- Police told the court that on December 3 roughly 1,000–1,500 people attempted to climb the hill, making crowd control extremely difficult.
- Justice G.R. Swaminathan sharply questioned the Collector for invoking prohibitions despite a clear judicial direction and signaled that other officials could be pardoned.
- The court dispensed with the personal appearance of other officers, took the Chief Secretary's affidavit on record, and required only the Collector to appear at the March 2 hearing.