Justice M.M. Ismail Commission found charges against jail officials during Emergency substantially correct

The Justice M.M. Ismail Commission, which investigated allegations of harassment and beating of some Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) detenus at the Madras Central Jail between February 1976 and February 1977, found the charges substantially correct and indicted certain jail officials. The Commission submitted its report to the first AIADMK government, headed by M.G. Ramachandran, on September 26, 1977.

In April 1978, Law Minister K. Narayanaswami Mudaliar told the Legislative Assembly, the government would neither whitewash any crimes committed by officers nor engage in witch-hunting. “We will avoid both extremes,” he said while responding to the debate on the Commission’s report.