Madras High Court Weekly Round-Up: February 14, 2022 To February 20, 2022

The court observed that the requirement of a registered instrument of lease in order to enable creation of a landlord-tenant relationship as given in Section 4(2) of the New Act 'cannot be said to be universal in its application'.

"...Therefore, a suit or proceeding which falls outside the provisions of the New Act are not barred. The scope of a bar created under a special enactment was considered by a Full Bench of this Court in Periyathambi Goundan v. The District Revenue Officer,Coimbatore and others, reported in 1980 (2) MLJ 89, wherein the Full Bench had held that the scope of the bar are interdict imposed by a provision of law must be strictly construed and the Court must ascertain the extent of the interdict imposed by the provision of the statute and limit the interdict to that extent alone."

Pointing towards the opacity with regards to the selection process followed by the National Institute of Technology (Tiruchirapalli) for appointment to the post of Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture, the Madras High Court has directed the institute to issue a fresh call for filling the vacancies.

It has also set aside the appointment of one S. Amalan Sigmund Kaushik to the said post.

The bench of Dr Justice Anita Sumanth observed,

'all is not well as regards the method, methodology as well as procedure followed by NIT, in effecting appointments, at least with regard to the Department of Architecture'.

Criticising an additional sub court in Pondicherry for issuing directions on making alterations in the marriage register without verifying the original documents, Madras High Court observed that courts cannot pass orders without proper enquiry and by solely relying upon the copies of the documents presented by the litigants.

The single-judge bench of Justice S.M Subramaniam was hearing the plea made by a french citizen to correct her name as well as her parents' names in the marriage register. She submitted that she wasn't conversant in English and noticed the error only when an application was made for her daughter's citizenship.

Madras High Court has reprimanded BJP functionary Syed Ibrahim for deliberately suppressing material facts regarding a prohibitory order against campaigning in a sensitive area with regards to the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Body Polls.

The first bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy noted that the petitioner resorted to 'twist the facts' in the affidavit filed after the court demanded him to state whether a criminal case was registered against him for entering the sensitive area and whether an express notice was served on him.

Hence, in effect, though the counterclaim made by the defendant was allowed, it was set off completely against the exemplary cost against the defendant.

8. 'Vague Allegations': Madras HC Dismisses With Cost Plea For Strict Implementation Of NMC Fee Structure In 50% Private Medical College Seats

Case Title: B.Balamurugan v. The Chairman & Ors.

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 70

The High Court refused to entertain a PIL for strict implementation of medical fees determined by the Government against 50 per cent seats in Private Medical Colleges and Deemed Universities.

The petition filed by Advocate B. Balamurugan alleged that Private Medical Colleges were charging fees to the extent of Rs 7.5- 8 Lakhs when the National Medical Commission has already fixed the fees for Government Quota at Rs. 13,500/-. When the first bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy enquired as to the source of his information, the petitioner counsel replied that he had made enquiries with a few private medical colleges which revealed that the National Medical Commission norms on fee fixation are often flouted by such colleges.

However, the bench noted that the petitioner has not impleaded any of the colleges indulging in such practises or any of the students aggrieved by such fees.

A new status report has been filed by the TN Director of Information & Public Relations, V.P Jayaseelan, indicating that Chief Minister M.K Stalin has given his consent to constitute the Press Council of Tamil Nadu.

The status report filed before the Madras High Court also states that the process of circulation and approval required from competent authorities for the formation of the Press Council will be completed soon. According to the new status report, the government order pertaining to the 'Tamil Nadu State News Representative Media Accreditation Rules, 2021' will likely be notified after the completion of urban local body polls.

16. Madras High Court Pulls Up Union Ministry Of Social Justice & Empowerment Over Delay In Enlisting NGOs Working For LGBTQIA+ Community

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 68

The Senior Panel Counsel had initially sought time to get clarity from the Ministry on extending the scope of the 'Garima Greh' Scheme to all members of the LGBTQIA+ Community and not transgenders alone. He informed the court that he is in constant touch with the respondent ministry as well as the Home Ministry and assured that he will update the court by the next date of hearing.

However, when it came to the matter of NGOs working for the welfare of the LGBTQIA+ Community, the court took serious note of the Ministry's failure to enlist the NGOs and upload the list on their website as per the court directions.