Appointment Of Vijay's Astrologer As Officer On Special Duty Challenged In Madras High Court

A lawyer on Wednesday (13th May) made an urgent mentioning before the Madras High Court, challenging the appointment of Astrologer Ricky Rathan Pandit Vettrivel as an Officer of Special Duty by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay.

When advocate Krishnamurthy made a mention before the vacation bench of Justice Victoria Gowri and Justice N Senthilkumar, the bench asked the lawyer what the urgency was in the case. The counsel informed the bench that the appointment was made against the statues and without making any official announcement beforehand.

The lawyer thus sought permission of the Court to file a plea against the appointment, subject to the government passing the floor test, which is scheduled for today. The court permitted the same and asked him to file a petition. It said that if such a petition is filed, it could be taken up for hearing tomorrow.

It may be noted that on May 12, through an office proceeding issued by the Public Department, the Principal Secretary to the Government informed that Vettrivel had been appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Chief Minister (Political) with effect from the date of joining. It was further informed that the terms and conditions of the appointment would be issued separately. 

The petitioner has argued that as per the Supreme Court's decision in Uma Devi's case, any appointment to the Government Service or any public appointment should be made in accordance with the Rules framed under Article 309 of the Constitution and no appointment could be made outside the constitutional scheme. It was argued that the present appointment, which is an appointment to public office, was made without calling for any application, without framing service rules, without issuing any notification and without conducting any recruitment in the manner known to law.

The petitioner argued that the appointment was made as a reward for Vettrivel's astrological predictions, where he had predicted that Vijay would have a massive win in the 2026 Assembly Elections and would become the Chief Minister of the State. Arguing that such appointments were without jurisdiction, the petitioner also pointed out that there was no record available on the budgetary allocations to the post. 

The petitioner thus argued that the appointment was against Article 14 and 16 of the Constitution as no equal opportunity was afforded to eligible candidates. The petitioner has thus sought the issuance of a writ of quo warranto calling upon Vettrivel to show under what authority he holds the office of "Officer on Special Duty to the Chief Minister" and to declare the appointment as illegal, arbitrary and void. 

An interim relief has also been sought to restrain Vettrivel from continuing to hold the office during the pendency of the plea.