Madras High Court Weekly Roundup: August 15 - August 21 2022
Upasana Sajeev
21 Aug 2022 1:03 PM GMT
A weekly round-up of important cases from Madras High Court and its subordinate courts. Citations: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 350 To 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 360 NOMINAL INDEX V. Sounthar v. The District Collector, Erode District, Erode and others, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 350 The Principal General Manager, BSNL and another v. The Administrator, ISHA Foundation, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 351 V...
A weekly round-up of important cases from Madras High Court and its subordinate courts.
Citations: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 350 To 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 360
NOMINAL INDEX
V. Sounthar v. The District Collector, Erode District, Erode and others, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 350
The Principal General Manager, BSNL and another v. The Administrator, ISHA Foundation, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 351
V Anusha v. B Krishnan, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 352
Arul Daniel and others v. Suganya, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 353
M Raja v. Superintendent of Police, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 354
O Paneerselvam v. AIADMK and others, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 355
Pastor V. Mariya Arockiam v. The District Collector and others, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 356
S Sasikumar v. The Vice Chancellor and others, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 357
Vinith Baid v. Union of India, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 358
K Muthu v. The State and another, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 359
Dr. S. Radhakrishnan v. The Registrar, Tamil Nadu Medical Council and others, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 360
REPORT
Case title - V. Sounthar v. The District Collector, Erode District, Erode and others
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 350
The Madras High Court recently granted permission for conducting Rekla race in connection with the 75th Independence Day Celebration and Aadi Temple Festival in the Bhavani Town of the state's Erode District.
The bench of Justice T. Raja and Justice K. Kumaresh Babu said that since the Rekla race was to be conducted by residents of Erode District as part of the 75th Year Independence Day, therefore, refusing their prayer would send a message that Indians are refused to celebrate even the Independence Day.
Case Title: The Principal General Manager, BSNL and another v. The Administrator, ISHA Foundation
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 351
The Madras High Court recently gave liberty to state-owned telecom provider BSNL to institute de novo arbitration against the ISHA foundation for its claim related to unpaid dues.
The bench of Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy made the order after observing that the current arbitral award, which was passed without consulting an expert committee and without giving due regard to the evidences, was patently erroneous.
Case Title: V Anusha v. B Krishnan
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 352
While allowing a wife's plea for permanent injunction, the Madras High Court has opined that if removal of the husband from home alone is the only way to ensure domestic peace, the Family Courts should not hesitate to pass such orders.
The bench of Justice RN Manjula observed,
"The protection orders are normally given to ensure the peaceful movement of a woman within her domestic sphere. When a woman fears the presence of her husband and screams, the Courts cannot be indifferent by just directing the husband that he should not harass the wife, but by allowing him to reside in the same house."
Case Title: Arul Daniel and others v. Suganya
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 353
A single judge of the Madras High Court recently referred to a larger bench, the question regarding the applicability of provisions of Section 482 CrPC and/or Article 227 of the Constitution for quashing an application under Section 12 of the Domestic Violence Act.
Justice N Sathish Kumar was considering a batch of petitions seeking to quash the application filed under Section 12 of the DV Act by invoking the provision under Section 482 CrPC.
Case Title: M Raja v. Superintendent of Police
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 354
While hearing a shop owner's plea to direct the police not to interfere with his business during late night hours, the Madras High Court noted that the Government of Tamil Nadu has already passed orders permitting shops in the State to run 24x7. In such a situation, the police cannot interfere with the business, except in case of any law-and-order situation.
Justice N Satish Kumar observed:
When the Government itself has permitted to run the business for 24x7, the police cannot restrict the time on their own.
Accordingly, the respondents are directed not the interfere with the petitioner's business and they can interfere only in case of any law and order problem arose in the shop.
Case Title: O Paneerselvam v. AIADMK and others
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 355
The Madras High Court on Wednesday ordered to conduct a fresh General Council Meeting of the AIADMK party. The court also ordered the status quo ante, as existed on June 23, before the General Council meeting took place on July 11. The court observed that only the coordinator and the joint coordinator had the powers to convene the General Council. Thus the court in effect canceled the General Counsel meeting held on July 11 and as a result the election of Edappadi Palaniswamy as interim General Secretary of the party
The bench of Justice G Jayachandran thus allowed a plea moved by former Tamil Nadu CM O Paneerselvam challenging his expulsion from the party and the General Council meeting of the AIADMK party that was conducted on July 11. Another General Council member P Vairamuthu had also approached the court challenging the General Council meeting.
Case Title: Pastor V. Mariya Arockiam v. The District Collector and others
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 356
The Madras High Court has recently held that Rule 6(4) of the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Building Rules 1972 mandates prior permission from the District Collector before construction of a building intended for public worship or religious purposes. The court thus dismissed the petition of a man for converting his residential place into a prayer hall after observing that the necessary permission from the authorities was not sought.
Justice R Vijayakumar noted that the building was located in a residential area and that gathering of such large number of people in a residential area would cause nuisance and difficulty to the residents of the locality.
Case Title: S Sasikumar v. The Vice Chancellor and others
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 357
While dealing with a challenge to the suspension of a law student, the Madras High Court stressed pon the need to install portraits of Dr. BR Ambedkar in Law colleges. Justice GR Swaminathan, therefore, directed the Director of Legal Studies, Chennai to issue a circular mandating the installation of portraits of Dr. Ambedkar in all Government Law Colleges.
Case Title: Vinith Baid v. Union of India
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 358
The Madras High Court recently dismissed a Father's plea to forbear the Central Government and the Secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs from registering the declaration of renunciation of Citizenship or granting no objection certificate/certificate of renunciation of citizenship to his daughter.
The Court noted that the duaghter is a major, aged 25 years. Also, from the record of an earlier habeas corpus petition filed by the father, the Court noted that she had converted to Islam and applied for Bangladeshi citizenship voluntarily.
Justice Abdul Quddhose was considering a petition filed by a father who contended that his daughter, who was presently residing in Bangladesh with her husband, was a victim of radicalization, undue influence, coercion, abduction, and captivity violating all her rights and human dignity.
10. Protest Using Animals Would Amount To 'Animal Cruelty': Madras High Court
Case Title: K Muthu v. The State and another
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 359
While dismissing a man's petition seeking permission to conduct a democratic protest using a buffalo, the Madras High Court held that such action would amount to animal cruelty.
The bench of Justice Sathish Kumar observed that keeping the animal at the place from morning to evening cannot be permitted as it would amount to cruelty and would be in violation of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960.
Case Title: Dr. S. Radhakrishnan v. The Registrar, Tamil Nadu Medical Council and others
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 360
The Madras High Court recently dismissed an appeal filed by a doctor challenging the order of removal of his name from the medical register for a period of two years after observing that he had issued a fake medical certificate for wrongfully gaining property and thus had committed professional misconduct.
The bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy opined that the appellant had let down all education imparted on him merely for obtaining land. This would double up the seriousness of his misconduct. The court thus opined that the punishment accorded to him was proportionate
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
1. 160 Years Of Madras High Court: Chief Justice Releases Commemorative Stamp
The Madras High Court on Monday, while celebrating the 75th year of Independence, also celebrated 160 years of its existence.
The Madras High Court, said to house the largest number of courtrooms in Asia, was granted a Letters Patent by the Majesty Queen Victoria on 26th June 1862 and formally came into existence on 15th August 1862.
To commemorate 160 years of its establishment, Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari released a commemorative stamp, "Corporate My Stamp", bearing an image of the High court building and its logo which was received by Justice Duraiswamy.
Case Title: C Joseph Vijay v. The Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax and others
Case No: WP No. 21006 of 2022
The Madras High Court on Tuesday granted an interim stay on the proceedings initiated by the Income Tax Department against Actor Vijay for "admitted" undisclosed income of Rs. 15 crore in the financial year 2015-16.
The bench of Justice Anita Sumanth passed the interim order on an application filed by the actor and directed the Department to file its counter by September 16.
The penalty was imposed based on raids conducted at the actor's residence in September 2015. Vijay alleged that the penalty order was passed after the expiry of limitation period to initiate such action.
Expressing concern over the distribution of water in public places through plastic bottles and bubble top cans, the Madras High Court has directed the Central government to come up with effective alternative packaging solutions.
The bench of Justices S Vaidyanathan and PT Asha was hearing a pleas relating to "plastic ban" in the State. It observed, "insofar as drinking water stored in plastic bottles is concerned, it becomes a significant problem not only to the well-being of the environment, but, affects the quality of our health, as well."
The court also directed the State Government to file a status report on how drinking water is prepared in the State and how the water cans were cleaned up. The court also enquired about the life span of water cans, how many days water was stored in water cans and the mechanism being followed for the destruction of these water cans. The court also directed the State to indicate whether records were maintained in this regard.
Case Title: Melmaruvathur Adhiparasakthi Institute of Medical Sciences v. Union of India and others
Case No: WP No. 17966 of 2022
The Madras High Court on Wednesday reserved order on a plea filed by a group of private medical colleges challenging the fee fixation by the National Medical Council (NMC) with respect to 50% of their seats.
The bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice N Mala enquired how the Council could charge more fees from 50% students and less from the other 50%. It also asked how the system would work if the colleges were not able to fill the remaining 50% seats in the high fees category.
Colleges have challenged the constitutional validity of Section 10 of the National Medical Commission Act 2019 and an office memorandum issued pursuant to the Act directing all private medical colleges to charge a fee equivalent to that charged by the Government in 50% seats of these institutions.
The Madras High Court recently took note of certain "anomalies" in fixing the notional income and consequent grant of compensation in motor accident claims. Since there are conflicting orders from two division benches on this issue, the court noted that there is a need for judicial pronouncement by a Larger Bench.
Justice PT Asha thus directed the registry to place the papers before the Chief Justice with a request to constitute a bench of appropriate strength to resolve the below issues:
1. Whether the Consumer Price Index adopted by the Central and State Government to revise wages or the Cost Inflation Index used to calculate capital gains should be used to fix the notional income in order to calculate the loss of income in the case of motor accident claims?
2. How should the notional income be fixed in the case of the unorganised sector which forms a chunk of the claims that are filed before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal?
The Madras High Court on Thursday appreciated the Tamil Nadu DGP's efforts in removing the orderly system from the State Police. The court had previously asked the DGP to file an affidavit informing the court about the measures undertaken to prevent the colonial practice of engaging uniformed officers as orderlies in the residence of higher officials.
When the matter came up on Thursday, DGP C. Sylendra Babu informed the court that an undertaking was being obtained from higher officials not to use uniformed officials for doing household and menial work.
The Madras High Court has directed the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry to verify the antecedents of lawyers before they are permitted to hold significant positions in the statutory committees.
The direction was made while dealing with a habeas corpus petition by a mother seeking production of her 17-year-old adopted son, whereby the Court had come across a 'fake lawyer'.
