Madras High Court Weekly Round-Up: April 13 to April 19, 2026

Citations: 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 160 To 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 169 NOMINAL INDEX The Managing Director v Mariyammal and Others, 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 160 Nethrodaya v The Chief Electoral Officer and Others, 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 161 Raja v The Inspector of Police, 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 162 Tamanna Santhosh Bhatia v M/s. Power Soaps Limited and Another, 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 163 KVN Productions v Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and Others, 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 164 Abdul Vahabudeen v The Chief Election Commissioner, 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 165 Jesudass Cornelius v The District Collector and Others, 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 166 K Raveendran v The Chief Election Commissioner and Others, 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 167 Janata Party v The Chief Election Officer, 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 168 V. Marisamy vs The Superintendent of Police, Tirunelveli and others, 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 169 REPORT Mere Non-Wearing Of Helmet Doesn't Enable Plea Of Contributory Negligence Without Direct Nexus To Accident: Madras High Court Case Title: The Managing Director v Mariyammal and Others Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 160 The Madras High Court recently upheld an order of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, fixing a contributory negligence of 7% on a deceased man who was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. Though the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation argued that it was the percentage of contributory negligence should have been enhanced on account of non-wearing of helmet, the bench of Justice N Anand Venkatesh and Justice KK Ramakrishnan noted that mere violation of a statutory provision does not give a right to the tort feasor to plead contributory negligence unless it is proved that the violation had a nexus with the accident. “Good Ground, But Not At This Stage”: Madras High Court Rejects Plea For Audio-Enabled VVPAT For Visually Impaired Voters Ahead Of TN Polls Case Title: Nethrodaya v The Chief Electoral Officer and Others Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 161 The Madras High Court, on Wednesday (15 April) dismissed a public interest litigation seeking directions to the Election Commission of India to introduce audio-enabled Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) for visually impaired voters in the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly elections. While the bench of Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan appreciated the grounds raised in the petition, the court noted that it could not issue directions to the ECI to introduce a new system after the electoral process has begun. When the petitioner organisation Nethrodaya insisted that the court direct the ECI to consider a representation submitted by it in this regard, the court pointed out that no provision allows it to ask election authorities to introduce a system in between the elections. Trial Court Can't Order Impounding Of Passport As A Condition For Granting Bail: Madras High Court Case Title: Raja v The Inspector of Police Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 162 The Madras High Court recently observed that the trial court does not have power to order impounding of passport as a condition for granting bail. Justice P Dhanabal held that under Section 109 of the BNSS (Section 104 of the CrPC), the court had power to impound any document, but not the passport. The court observed that the power to impound passport was only with the passport authorities under Section 10(3) of the Passport Act. The court added that the power to impound passport was provided under Section 10(3) of the Passports Act. The court observed that the Passport Act was a special law while the criminal procedure was a general law and thus the special law would prevail over the general law. The court thus concluded that, as far as the passport is concerned, the passport authorities alone could impound the passport and the trial court cannot impose such a condition to deposit the passport. Madras High Court Rejects Tamanna Bhatia's ₹1 Crore Appeal Against Power Soaps For Allegedly Using Her Images Despite Expiry Of Contract Case Title: Tamanna Santhosh Bhatia v M/s. Power Soaps Limited and Another Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 163 The Madras High Court on Thursday (April 16) dismissed an appeal filed by actress Tamanna Bhatia challenging an order of a single judge rejecting her plea seeking damages of Rs 1 Crore from Power soaps for 'unauthorisedly' using her images despite expiry of contract. The bench of Justice P Velmurugan and Justice K Govindarajan Thilakavadi upheld the order passed by the single judge in 2017. In her original suit, Tamanna had stated that she had entered into an agreement with Power Soaps on October 7, 2008, agreeing the use of her pictures in the wrappers of soaps manufactured by the company. Tamanna had argued that even after the expiry of the agreement, the company continued to use her pictures on their products, without her approval. She submitted that...

Madras High Court Weekly Round-Up: April 13 to April 19, 2026

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Madras High Court Weekly Round-Up: April 13 to April 19, 2026

Upasana Sajeev

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