Madras High Court Weekly Round-Up: May 22 to May 28

A weekly round-up of important cases from the Madras High Court. Citations: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 146 To 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 151 NOMINAL INDEX M. Suveathan vs. The State Commission for Protection of Child Rights and Ors, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 146 K Singaravelu v The Government of Tamil Nadu and others, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 147 Desiya Deiveega Murpokku Kazhagam v Election Commission...

If Electricity Is Stolen For Temple Festival, Liability Will Have To Be Fastened On Temple Trustee & Executive Officer: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court recently observed that whenever electricity is stolen for the conduct of temple festivals, the liability under the Electricity Act has to be fastened on the Trustees of the temple and its Executive Officer as they are responsible for providing electricity. While observing so, Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy discharged an Electric Contractor who was charged under Section 135 of the Electricity Act 2003 for a mishap that happened in Melmalayanur Arulmighu Angalamman...

Justice SV Gangapurwala Sworn In As Chief Justice Of Madras High Court

Justice SV Gangapurwala was sworn in as the Chief Justice of Madras High Court on Sunday. Governor of Tamil Nadu, Dr RN Ravi administered administered the oath of office at Raj Bhavan in Chennai. The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended the appointment of Justice Gangapurwala to the Madras High Court on April 19. The Centre had notified his appointment on May 26.Justice Gangapurwala was elevated as Additional Judge of Bombay High Court in 2010. In December 2022, he was appointed as the...

Madras High Court Directs ECI To Register Desiya Deiveega Murpokku Kazhagam Party

While allowing the Desiya Deiveega Murpokku Kazhagam party to get itself registered with the Election Commission, the Madras High Court said that while looking into the meaning of the name of the party, the Election Commission should have read the word “Deiveega” in the context of other words in the name and thus should not have rejected the registration of the party. Justice Anita Sumanth said that while the word Deiveega also meant “Godly”, such an interpretation would not sit well...

Resistance From Locals Cannot Be Reason To Not Shift Burial Ground Situated Close To Water Body: Madras High Court

While ordering the shifting of a burial ground from a land situated close to a water body to another land, the Madras High Court highlighted that though public resistance is common in such cases, the revenue officials should try to control the situation and ensure that the water body is not polluted. In the considered view of this Court, the revenue officials must keep in mind that whenever there is a proposal for shifting a burial ground, there is a bound to be public resistance from...

Centre Notifies Appointment Of Justice SV Gangapurwala As Chief Justice Of Madras High Court

The Centre has appointed Justice SV Gangapurwala as the Chief Justice of Madras High Court. Justice Gnagapurwala is currently the Acting Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Sanjay Vijaylcumar Gangapurwala, Judge, Bombay High Court, to be the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office, the...

OpIndia CEO Rahul Roushan, Editor Nupur Sharma Move Madras High Court Against FIR Over Fake News Regarding Bihar Migrant Workers

OpIndia's CEO Rahul Roushan and Editor Nupur Sharma have approached the Madras High Court seeking quashing of the FIR registered against them for allegedly spreading fake news about migrant workers of Bihar in Tamil Nadu. The Thiruninravur Police in Avadi City Police Commissionerate had registered the case under Section 153A, 501, and 505 of the IPC for making statements and publishing defamatory content, thus promoting enmity between different groups of people. The case was registered...

Elected Representatives Must Work Together For Benefit Of Villagers: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court recently said that even though there can be differences between elected representatives, they should work together for the benefit of the people. Justice CV Karthikeyan was hearing a plea filed by the Panchayat President of Pattakurichi Village, Tenkasi Taluk challenging an order of the District Collector. The court noted that the collector had passed the impugned order pursuant to his emergency powers under Section 203 of the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act since the...

Justice Raja Retires As Acting Chief Justice Of Madras High Court Despite Collegium Recommending His Transfer To Rajasthan High Court In Nov 2022

Justice T Raja on Wednesday retired as the Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court. Justice Raja, who assumed the charge of acting Chief Justice on September 22, 2022, after the superannuation of Justice M Duraiswamy continued on the post till today, making him the first native judge to hold the post for such a long time in the past 25 years.During his farewell function, Justice Raja said that transfer is nothing but an incident of service and whenever a transfer order is made, one...

Justice S Vaidyanathan Appointed As Acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court

The Union Government has notified the appointment of Justice S Vaidyanathan as the next Acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court pursuant to the retirement of Justice T Raja, who is currently holding office of Acting Chief Justice. Justice Raja retires today. A notification in this regard issued on May 24 reads as under:"In exercise of the power conferred by Article 223 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint, Shri Justice S. Vaidyanathan, Judge of Madras High...

Teachers's Duty Is To Impart Knowledge And Skills To Needy Students, Not Hold On To Comfortable Posting: Madras High Court

While refusing relief to a schoolteacher challenging his transfer, the Madras High Court recently observed that a teacher should focus on imparting knowledge and skills to the needy students and not hold on to comfortable posting.Justice CV Karthikeyan further opined that the school teacher should set an example for the students and not question every administrative order."The object of working as a teacher is to impart knowledge and skills to needy students and not to hold on to his own comfort...

Students Admitted Under RTE Act's DG/EWS Quota Need Not Pay Even A Penny, State Must Pay All Fee: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has said that the State government must bear all costs, including the expenses on books, study material etc., incurred by a child belonging to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Disadvantaged Groups (DG) admitted to school under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act.Justice M Dhandapani observed:“... it is the duty of the State to provide free and compulsory education to the children specified u/s 2 (d) and (e) of the Act by absorbing all...