Madras High Court Weekly Round-Up: December 19 to December 25, 2022

A weekly round-up of important cases from the Madras High Court and its subordinate courts. Citations: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 511 To 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 518 NOMINAL INDEX Arvind Gupta v Punjab National Bank and another, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 511 M Hemalatha v The National Medical Commission and others and Minor K Megatharani v The Union of India and others, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 512 V Anand v State of Tamil Nadu and others, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 513 Thulasidass Adikesavan v. Inspector of Police and others, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 514 ML Ravi v. The Additional Chief Secretary to the Government and another, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 515 R.Chandrasekar v. The Secretary to Government, Home (Transport) Department and others, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 516 Southern Agrifurane Industries Private Ltd., v. The Assistant Director, Directorate of Enforcement, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 517 Viacom18 Media Private Limited v Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 518 REPORT 1. S.12A Commercial Courts Act | "Urgent Interim Relief" Must Exist At Time Of Filing Suit, Cannot Be Ex-Post Facto Jurisdictional Fact: Madras HC Case Title: Arvind Gupta v Punjab National Bank and another Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 511 The Madras High Court has held that circumstances to seek "urgent interim relief" under Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act and to bypass mandatory pre-institution mediation must exist at the time of institution of the suit. While dismissing an application seeking an injunction against the invocation of a bank guarantee, Justice M Sundar observed, As Hon'ble Supreme Court has made it clear that Section 12A is mandatory, it is in the nature of a jurisdictional fact. A jurisdictional fact should precede the suit and there can be no ex post facto jurisdictional fact. The plaintiff cannot be heard to contend that this Commercial Division should look at the matter as it stands today. The test is as it stood on the date of institution of suit i.e., 17.10.2022 in this case. 2. "Cannot Be Left High & Dry": Madras HC Directs Puducherry Govt To Grant Vacant ST Medical Seats To Backward Tribe Community Members Case Title: M Hemalatha v The National Medical Commission and others and Minor K Megatharani v The Union of India and others Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 512 Granting relief to two students belonging to the Backward Tribe category seeking to be considered for reservation in the NEET UG medical admissions, the Madras High Court directed the Union Territory of Puducherry to allow them to fill up the vacant seats in the Scheduled Tribe category. Justice CV Karthikeyan noted that it was the duty of the Government of Puducherry to ensure reservation to the Backward Tribe community which had been specifically created by the government. The judge also noted that the government could not merely state that the reservation was made according to the Medical Counselling Committee guidelines and thus the Backward Tribes could not be included as in reality the Medical Counselling Committee had no idea about the existence of the Backward Tribes in the Union Territory of Puducherry. 3. 'Cannot Fix Operating Hours': Madras High Court Dismisses PIL Seeking Peak Hour Restrictions On Garbage Trucks Case Title: V Anand v State of Tamil Nadu and others Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 513 The Madras High Court on Tuesday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation seeking to prohibit Tamil Nadu government and Greater Chennai Corporation from operating garbage trucks at peak office or school hours. While dismissing the petition, Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy said that the court cannot not fix the operating hours of the garbage trucks. The petitioner, V Anand, submitted that the garbage trucks operating in peak times - 8:30 am to 10:00 am, cause great disturbance and nuisance to the general public and also create traffic snarls. 4. Madras High Court Directs State To Pay ₹1 Lakh Compensation To Family Of Man Missing Since Hospital Admission For COVID-19 In 2020 Case Title: Thulasidass Adikesavan v. Inspector of Police and others Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 514 The Madras High Court on Monday directed the Tamil Nadu government to pay Rs one lakh compensation to the family of a 74-year-old man who has not been found since being taken to a government hospital in June 2020 for COVID-19 treatment. The division bench of Justice PN Prakash and Justice Anand Venkatesh directed the police to take effective steps to find the whereabouts of the missing person and continue with its investigation in the matter. The court said Tamil Nadu government and Greater Chennai Corporation had done their best to fight the COVID war and no single officer could be blamed for the lapse At the same time, the court agreed with the submission of the family that had the police registered the FIR in the first ...

Madras High Court Weekly Round-Up: December 19 to December 25, 2022

Upasana Sajeev

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