Madras High Court Weekly Roundup: April 11 to April 17 2022
Upasana Sajeev
17 April 2022 4:38 PM GMT
A weekly round-up of important cases from Madras High Court and its subordinate courts. Citations: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 147 To 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 162 NOMINAL INDEX Dr. P. Vijayan v. The Union Of India and Ors., 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 147 S.V Ramamurthy v. The Secretary, Government of TN, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 148 A Pitchaiah v. The Managing Director and Ors, 2022 LiveLaw...
A weekly round-up of important cases from Madras High Court and its subordinate courts.
Citations: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 147 To 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 162
NOMINAL INDEX
Dr. P. Vijayan v. The Union Of India and Ors., 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 147
S.V Ramamurthy v. The Secretary, Government of TN, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 148
A Pitchaiah v. The Managing Director and Ors, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 149
S.Sakthivel & Anr v. The State rep. by the Food Safety Officer, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 150
Sivakumar v. A Radhakrishnan, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 151
M/S.Smart Roofing Private Limited Versus The State Tax Officer, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 152
V. Senthilbalaji and Ors v. State rep. By Inspector of Police and Another, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 153
High Court of Madras v. R.D Santhana Krishnan, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 154
P. Vijayabharathy v. The District Collector-cum- District Magistrate and Others, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 155
Murugan @ Panni Murugan v. The State rep. by Sub Inspector of Police and Anr.,2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 156
K.J Sumathy and Ors v. The Chairman, Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and Ors, 2022 Live Law (Mad) 157
I Nisha v. State of Tamil Nadu and ors, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 158
M/s.RKS Agencies Versus State Tax Officer-I, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 159
Madurai Kamraj University v. The Chairman, Micro & Small Enterprises Facilitation Council and Anr, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 160
D. Nagarathinammal v. The Project Director, National Highways Authority of India and Anr, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 161
The Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax Versus Saint Gobain India Private Limited, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 162
The Madras High Court has held that a past misconduct of the employee cannot be a reason for imposing a major penalty (under Indian Maritime University Teaching and Non-Teaching Employees (Terms and Conditions of Services) Rules), such as removal from service.
The bench of Justice C Saravanan was considering the petition filed by the former director of the Indian Maritime University, Dr. P Vijayan against the order of the Executive Council of the Indian Maritime University, dismissing him from services and imposing penalty of Rs. Rs. 22,65,469.
The court directed that all autorickshaws be fitted with electronic meters which should be operated while transporting passengers. The court also ordered that checks should be conducted by the Police and Transport Departments to find out as to whether the auto-rickshaw is being operated with meters or not, and for that, if any complaint is made, then immediate action should be taken on it.
The court also directed the State to revise the fares/rates of the auto-rickshaws, periodically, looking to the fluctuation of the rates of petrol/diesel. This system would take into account the fluctuations of the rates of petrol/diesel without evolving the long drawn process but by using the software in such a manner where the rates may be revised, thereby, upgraded the system/mechanism automatically on the meters.
3. Disputed Facts Cannot Be Adjudicated In Writ Proceedings: Madras High Court
Case Title: A Pitchaiah v. The Managing Director and Ors
During the course of the hearing the court also discussed the present situation where the litigants directly approach the High Court under article 226 without exhausting the remedies provided under the statutes. The petitioners seek for a direction to direct the respondent to pay entire pensionary and service benefits. However, the High Courts powers are limited in such cases and these leads to multiplicity of proceedings. The court also opined that litigant should not be made to suffer by way of multiplicity of proceedings.
It was further observed that all writ petitions are maintainable under Article 226 of the Constitution but its entertainability is to be decided with respect to the rights of the parties or its infringement. Therefore, the parties must be allowed to exhaust the alternate remedies provided under the statutes and service rules and then if they are further aggrieved, approach court under Article 226 of the Constitution.
Case Title: S.Sakthivel & Anr v. The State rep. by the Food Safety Officer
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 150
The Madras High Court has recently allowed a petition for quashing proceedings under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 observing that the Designated Officer had not sent his recommendations on the food sample within a period of 14 days, as mandated under Section 42 of the Act.
Justice K. Murali Shankar observed that the respondent had violated the "mandatory requirement" contemplated under Section 42 of the Act and therefore, the very launching of the complaint itself is not proper. The court also observed that when the authorities have not followed mandate, it is not reasonable to direct the petitioners to face the trial.
Sub-section 3 of Section 42 (Procedure for launching prosecution) states that the Food Analyst after receiving the sample from the Food Safety Officer shall analyse the sample and send the analysis report mentioning method of sampling and analysis within fourteen days to Designated Officer with a copy to Commissioner of Food Safety.
Case Title: Sivakumar v. A Radhakrishnan
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 151
The Madras High Court has recently sentenced a litigant to undergo simple imprisonment for four weeks for filing false affidavit in Court, thereby attempting to interfere with the course of administration of justice, punishable under Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.
The bench of Justice P.N Prakash and Justice A.A Nakkiran passed the orders on a Contempt Petition filed under Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act 1971 against A Radhakrishnan to prosecute him for his illegal activities. The petition was filed after obtaining the consent of the Advocate General.
The court also observed that contempt proceedings are between the court and the contemnor. Hence, motive, which is normally alleged in criminal cases for false implication, does not apply to contempt cases.
Case Title: M/S.Smart Roofing Private Limited Versus The State Tax Officer
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 152
The Madras High Court bench of Justice C. Saravanan has quashed the penalty under GST for a wrong declaration in an e-way bill as there was no intention of tax evasion. The court observed that there was only a technical breach committed by the petitioner and there was no intention to evade tax.
The court noted that the authorities were justified in detaining the goods inasmuch as there was a mistake in the E-way bill. However, the facts indicate that the consignor and the consignee are one and the same entity, namely, the Head Office and the Branch Office. In this case, the petitioner has a new place of business, but has not altered the GST registration. However, steps have been taken to ex post facto include the new place of business in the GST registration. The registration certificate was also amended.
Case Title: V. Senthilbalaji and Ors v. State rep. By Inspector of Police and Another
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 153
Justice A D Jagdish Chandra of the Madras High Court on Monday quashed the criminal proceedings instituted by Minister of Electricity of Tamil Nadu- V. Senthil Balaji and other DMK party members, for participating in protests against Farm Laws during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.
In the petition, Mr Balaji along with four others sought to quash the chargesheet filed before the Karur Judicial Magistrate for the alleged offences under Sections 143 (punishment for unlawful assembly) and 270 (Malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerÂous to life) of IPC r/w. Section 4A(1a) of Tamil Nadu Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1959.
It was contented that the protest was for a public cause and apart from that there was no material evidence to show that the petitioners have committed offences as alleged. There was also no material to show that the petitioners were acting negligently to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life without following COVID 19 guidelines issued by the State.
Case Title: High Court of Madras v. R.D Santhana Krishnan
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 154
The Madras High Court bench of Justice P.N Prakash and Justice A.A Nakkiran recently sentenced Mr. R.D Santhana Krishnan, a lawyer practicing in the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puduchery to Simple Imprisonment for Two Weeks and a fine of Rs. 6000.
Mr R.D Santhana Krishnan was seen canoodling a lady, on 20.12.2021 while attending the virtual court proceedings. The video clipping of the said incident had gone viral and the court had taken suo moto cognizance of the issue. The court had charged Santhana Krishnan under Section 2 read with Section 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971
Case Title: P. Vijayabharathy v. The District Collector-cum- District Magistrate and Others
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 155
The Madras High Court has allowed a petition filed by a victim belonging to Scheduled Caste Community claiming compensation under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Rules, 2016, for an offence committed against her in the year 2014.
While passing orders Justice G. Ilangovan observed that as per the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Rules, 2016, the victim is entitled for the relief and compensation of Rs. 5,00,000/-. Out of this, 50% of the amount must be disbursed soon-after the completion of the medical test. 25% must be disbursed at the time of filing the final report.
The court also observed that A beneficial piece of legislation must be interpreted in a purposive manner which would effectuate the object of the welfare legislation and the Court must always lean in favour of applying the beneficial measures that have been given to victims, even in cases where the incident had happened before 2016.
Case Title: Murugan @ Panni Murugan v. The State rep. by Sub Inspector of Police and Anr.
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 156
The Madras High Court recently held that the scope of Section 427 CrPC is that, in respect of conviction to undergo the sentence of imprisonment passed on subsequent cases for the offence of same nature, the sentence shall run concurrently. The court also made it clear that it can exercise of its jurisdiction under Section 482 of CrPC and issue direction that the sentence imposed by the trial court shall run concurrently.
Justice G.K Ilanthiraiyan also relied on decisions of various high court where it was held that the inherent powers of the High Court is not in any way fettered by the provisions of Section 427(1) and it can be invoked at any stage even if there is no such order passed under Section 427(1) by the Trial Court or Appellate or Revisional Court and even though the conviction has become final.
Case Title: K.J Sumathy and Ors v. The Chairman, Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and Ors.
Citation: 2022 Live Law (Mad) 157
The Madras High Court has observed that in criminal proceedings, the legal heirs of the original complainant can apply for continuation of proceedings against the accused upon the death of the original complainant.
The court further quashed the order passed by the disciplinary committee of Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry which had held that the legal heirs cannot step into the shoes of the original complainant and cannot carry on disciplinary proceedings against the advocates.
The bench of Justice P.N Prakash and Justice AA Nakkiran opined that the Disciplinary Committee was swayed by the fact that the proceedings before it were quasi-criminal, and the view that legal heirs of the complainant cannot be substituted in place of the original complainant amounts to woeful ignorance of the settled position in criminal law.
Case Title: I Nisha v. State of Tamil Nadu and ors
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 158
Observing that there is a trend of delay in filing of the Final Report after the statutory time limit, the Madras High Court has directed the Police to file all final reports On-line. Such On-line filing of final reports by the Police, will be in compliance with the requirements of Rule 25 of the Criminal Rules of Practice, 2019. The court further clarified that the mandatory period for filing the final report shall apply even in cases where the accused has already been detained. Further, the court also directed that the Judicial Magistrates / Criminal Courts shall not return the final reports for such non-enclosure of the reports which are listed out as Nos.(vii) to (x) & (xxix) of Sub Rule 7 of Rule 25 of the Criminal Rules of Practice.
The bench of Justice R Subramanian and Justice N Sathish Kumar further directed the Director General of Police to issue required Circulars to respective Police Stations to ensure compliance of the orders. The court further directed the registry to place the order before the Chief Justice to enable the Registry to issue appropriate circulars to the criminal courts.
13. Madras High Court Directs GST Dept. To Release Detained Vehicle On Payment Of 25% Of Penalty
Case Title: M/s.RKS Agencies Versus State Tax Officer-I
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 159
The Madras High Court bench of Justice R. Suresh Kumar has directed the GST department to release the detained vehicle on the payment of 25% of the penalty.
The petitioner/assessee purchased cement from Andhra Pradesh, whereas, the petitioner has a branch office at Coimbatore, which is the destination where the purchased goods have to reach. When the goods were transported, the vehicle was intercepted by the respondent revenue squad, and they found that there was a violation in the invoice because the full address of the buyer was not mentioned.
The petitioner submitted that the absence of the full address of the buyer was not such a major offence or violation that the goods in question could not be detained by the department.
The department contended that the full address of the petitioner, being a buyer, had not been mentioned in the documents like invoices, etc.
Case Title: Madurai Kamraj University v. The Chairman, Micro & Small Enterprises Facilitation Council and Anr.
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 160
The High Court of Madras has observed that S. 18 of the MSMED Act will override the arbitration clause between the parties. The Court observed that since S. 24 of the MSMED Act is a non-obstante clause, it gives overriding effect to the provisions of S. 15 -23 of the Act.
The Bench of Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayan and Justice P. Velmurgan observed that once a reference is filed before the MSME Council under S. 18 of the Act, the provisions of the arbitration clause must yield to the provisions contained under S. 18 of the Act.
15. Writ Petition Is Not Maintainable To Enforce The Arbitral Award: Madras High Court
Case Title: D. Nagarathinammal v. The Project Director, National Highways Authority of India and Anr.
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 161
The High Court of Madras observed that a writ petition cannot be filed to enforce an arbitral award when an alternative remedy is available under S. 36 of the A&C Act.
The Single Bench of Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan observed that the A&C Act is a complete code in itself and envisages minimum judicial intervention. If further observed that if the Courts are allowed to interfere beyond the permissible lines, then the efficacy of arbitration as an expeditious method of dispute resolution would be diminished.
16. TPO To Mandatorily Pass Order Determining Arm's Length Pricing Within 60 Days:Madras High Court
Case Title: The Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax Versus Saint Gobain India Private Limited
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 162
The Madras High Court bench of Justice R.Mahadevan and Justice J.Sathya Narayan Prasad has held that the transfer pricing officer (TPO) must mandatorily pass the order determining arm's length pricing within 60 days.
In the writ petition, the appellant/department has disputed the judge's order. The judge ruled that the TPO's decision or inability to issue an order within 60 days will have an influence on the order issued by the Assessing Officer, for which an outer time limit has been specified under Sections 144C and 153 of the Income Tax Act.
The court held that, as per the proviso to Section 92CA (3A), if the time limit for the TPO to pass an order is less than 60 days, then the remaining period shall be extended to 60 days. This implies that not only is the time frame mandatory, but also that the TPO has to pass an order within 60 days.
The court observed that when an order is passed on time, the procedures under 144C and 92CA(4) are to be followed. When the determination is not made in time, it cannot be relied upon by the assessing officer while concluding the assessment proceedings.
Other Developments
Case Title: Dr Bharat Kannan and others versus State of Tamil Nadu and others
The Madras High Court has issued notice in a petition filed by five doctors seeking cancellation of the State Mop-Up Round Counselling held by the State of Tamil Nadu for NEET-PG admissions, on the basis of the Supreme Court's order cancelling the Mop Up rounds for All India Quota(AIQ).
A single bench of Justice Anita Sumanth issued notice to the State and posted the matter next on April 20.
Case Title: Sri Ram Samaj v. The Commissioner and Others.
Case No: WA 1057 of 2022
The Madras High Court will hear on April 21 the appeal filed against the single judge order allowing takeover of the Ayodhya Mandapam by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department (HR&CE) and appointing a "Fit Person" to take over the administration of the temple.
A Division Bench of Justice M Duraiswamy and Justice TV Thamilselvi of the Madras High Court were considering the appeals filed by Sri Ram Samaj claiming that the Mandapam is not a temple and cannot be taken over by the HR & CE.
3. IIT-M Professors Move Madras High Court Seeking Anticipatory Bail In Sexual Harassment Case
Case Title: Prof. Edamana Prasad and Anr v. State rep. By Inspector of Police
Case No: Crl OP 7776 of 2022
Two professors of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) have approached the Madras High Court seeking anticipatory bail in connection with a case for sexually harassing a PhD candidate of the University. They have been arraigned as accused number nine and ten.
Justice G. Jayachandran has listed the matter for hearing on April 18.
