Chennai Dec 28 PTI The Madras High Court has directed a number of officials including at the Secretary-level to coordinate on a plaint regarding alleged irregularities over a temples property here Justice S M Subramaniam gave the order recently on a petition from A Radhakrishnan who submitted that attempts were being made by miscreants to grab the properties of over 150 acres of Arulmigu Kothandaramar Thirukoil at Nandambakkam here by creating documents in a fraudulent manner The respondents include the Secretaries of Tourism Home and Revenue Commissioner of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department Chennai District Collector and City Police Commissioner among others The judge said the effort requires verification of revenue records documents and the claims of third parties Thus enquiry is to be conducted in respect of those properties revenue records in original must be verified with the assistance of the revenue authorities and the persons who all are claiming the ownership or title and the documents available with them are also to be looked into Thereafter all further actions are to be initiated for restoration of those properties if it is identified that such properties stand in the name of the temple Such efforts requires some more time for the authorities In view of the facts and circumstances this Court is inclined to direct the respondents 1 to 16 to extend co-ordination for the purpose of verification of the documents and revenue records etc and ascertain the facts and circumstances by collecting the documents and thereafter initiate all appropriate actions for recovery of the properties and for initiation of further actions against the offenders by following the procedures as contemplated under law the judge said and disposed of the plea PTI COR SA APR APR

Chennai Dec 27 PTI The Madras High Court has suggested that the Tamil Nadu government come up with a prospective glossary containing words and expressions to address members of the LGBTQIA community saying any such move will have more force and be easier to implement The courts recommendation came during a hearing on the welfare of the community members with the original petition being two women same-sex partners seeking protection from their families opposed to their relationship The counsel for the petitioner has submitted the relevant words and expressions were illustrative and not exhaustive to address the LGBTQIA community the court said However at some stage there must be a beginning where persons belonging to this community are addressed in a more dignified manner Justice Anand N Venkatesh said during the hearing recently The learned Additional Advocate General shall take note of the words and expressions that have been suggested supra and it can be forwarded to the Government of Tamil Nadu facilitating it to come up with a standardized guideprospective glossary containing the words and expressions to address persons belonging to the LGBTQIA community Once the Government publishes the same it will have more force and will be easier to implement This Court expects that such a prospective glossary will be placed before this Court before the next date of hearing on February 18 the judge noted The Court also requested the press and media to take into consideration the words and expressions mentioned herein above to be used while addressing persons belonging to the LGBTQIA community saying it will pave the way for their dignified identification PTI COR SA APR APR

Chennai Nov 29 PTI The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to remove all encroachments on the land belonging to the Defence department and hand over the same to the Officers Training Academy OTA in St Thomas Mount within eight weeks Justice S M Subramaniam gave the direction while disposing of a writ petition from P Singaravelu one of the residents in the area recently The petition sought to quash a December 171987 order of the Kanchipuram District Collector which assigned the government poramboke land in the Revenue register at Tulasingapuram in Nandambakkam and consequently direct the authorities concerned to lay a pucca approach road and change the patta in the name of the Corporation of Chennai and construct toilets an elementary school a community centre and a temple The judge said that the relief sought for by the petitioner deserves no consideration As per the counter filed by the Alandur Tahsildar the encroachments were to be removed and the land to be handed over to the Defence department The rest of the government lands are to be utilised for public purposes The petitioners and others who are encroachers if found eligible for allotment of any tenement or land as per the welfare schemes to be formed by the Department of Adi-dravidar Welfare then such tenements can be allotted to the poor and downtrodden homeless people through Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board it had added The judge said the Defence authorities are empowered to remove the encroachments and construct compound walls for protecting its properties The State authorities including the police department shall provide assistance and security to the Defence authorities for the purpose of evicting the encroachments in the Defence land and to protect the same It is the duty of the government to ensure that the lands allotted to the Defence Ministry is protected as the Officers Training Academy is the prestigious Defence institution contributing for the security of the nation Thus the State government is expected to act swiftly and remove all encroachments in the defence lands and provide all assistance to the Defence authorities to construct compound walls for the purpose of protection and maintenance of the Defence properties the judge said The authorities concerned shall provide alternate accommodation by allotting tenementsland for the eligible poor and downtrodden people in that area under the government welfare schemes If necessary a special scheme may be formulated by identifying suitable land or allotments to be made through Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board or through the schemes to be formulated by the Adi-dravidar Welfare department the judge added PTI COR SA APR APR

Chennai Nov 22 PTI Teachers in Tamil Nadu should get first vaccinated before going to schools to teach students the Madras High Court observed on Monday If the instructors want to go to school they must get vaccinated first in the interest of students so as to protect them from the dreaded disease the court said If some teachers do not want to get vaccinated for personal reasons heshe can remain at home without going to school and putting the lives of students at risk the first bench of Acting Chief Justice M N Bhandari said The bench was dismissing as withdrawn a PIL petition from the Academic Resources Advancement Movement Trust which opposed a state government order stipulating that all the teachers should get vaccinated before attending schools It was against the order of the Centre which stated vaccination was only voluntary the petitioner contended The ACJ felt the plea did not appear to be in public interest In fact it was against public interest Fearing dismissal of the case the petitioner opted to withdraw the same and the bench allowed the plea and dismissed it as withdrawn PTI COR SA APR APR

Chennai Nov 22 PTI The Madras High Court has set aside an order of the Tiruvannamalai administration granting permission to construct a building on a playground and directed the District Collector to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the official who gave the nod If this kind of illegal allotment of government land and playground was allowed to be made by the officials then it will be a threat for the maintenance of public properties Justice S M Surbamaniam said in a recent order The public officials are always expected to maintain the government lands buildings and properties intact and for the benefit of the people at large Contrarily they cannot permit any other individual to encroach upon the public lands for individual gains or allot such public lands in favour of the individuals in violation of the Statutes and Rules in force Thus the actions of the respondents -- Tiruvannamalai District Collector the District Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Officer and the Special Tahsildar Adi Dravidar Welfare Office in Vandhavasi is not in accordance with law the judge said He directed the Collector to conduct a detailed enquiry and initiate all appropriate action against the officials who had committed such illegalities in allotting the playground in favour of the individuals and permitted the individual to construct house in the playground The judge was allowing a writ petition from A Sugumaran who sought to quash the impugned order of October 2015 demolish the illegal construction and restore the playground to its original position The judge also went on to observe that in the event of allowing such illegalities to continue the same will not only create a bad precedent but the public officials will be emboldened for allotting such public lands in favour of the individuals by corrupt means In such circumstances any leniency or misplaced sympathy will result in infringement of public rights which is unconstitutional Such infringements can never be allowed by the constitutional Courts Public rights in respect of public lands are to be protected under all circumstances and the parties responsible and accountable must be prosecuted for any such illegality of permitting any other private person to encroach upon or construct buildings in public places the judge added PTI COR SA APR APR

Chennai Nov 20 PTI The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to consider a plea to set up a separate ward for the disabled to stay in the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital hospital for obtaining the disabled certificate The court was disposing of a writ petition from one C Jagadeesan praying for a direction to this effect on November 17 This Court is of the view that the said hospital is one of the biggest ones in the State and there would not be any impediment for it to make arrangements for provision of separate wards especially for those persons who are approaching them for getting disability certificate as every day the patients are admitted in it due to accidents and the tribunals are issuing directions from time to time to the claimants to obtain disability certificates In such circumstances it would be appropriate for the benefit of the claimants to provide a separate ward Justice Krishnan Ramaswamy said According to advocate V S Suresh his client Jagadeesan met with an accident in 2018 and he filed a petition claiming compensation before the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal The Tribunal referred him to the Medical Board for assessment of the disability pursuant to which he was admitted in the Neuro ward of the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital for obtaining the disability certificate To the petitioners dismay he could not find a bed as there were other patients taking treatment Finally he was given one on the floor in the general ward and kept under observation for a month during which period he had to suffer a lot of inconvenience and mental agony His wife who was attending to his needs also underwent many hardships Suresh told the judge In the meanwhile Jagadeesan obtained his disabled certificate The judge noted that though the prayer sought for by the petitioner is two-fold and that subsequent to filing of the petition he had been issued with the certificate in the interest of the disabled persons the second limb of the prayer -- setting up of a separate ward -- has to be considered In the light of the above this writ petition is disposed of by directing the respondents to consider the petitioners representation dated January 10 2018 on merits and pass appropriate orders in accordance with law within four weeks the judge said PTI COR SA APR APR

Chennai Nov 19 PTI The Madras High Court has directed the Greater Chennai Police Commissioner to initiate swift action on complaints or information against the public authority and police officials regarding demand and acceptance of freebies bribes or any other extraneous considerations Justice S M Subramaniam gave the direction recently while allowing a writ petition from a small traders organisation in suburban Chrompet Also the Bench directed the Commissioner to constitute special squads for effective and efficient control of traffic system on GST Road and in strategical locations of other important roads in Greater Chennai He should sensitise the traffic police personnel to the issues prevailing and ensure free flow of traffic Dereliction of duty lapses or negligence must be viewed seriously the judge added According to the petitioner the authorities concerned were causing nuisance to the public at large by allowing the commuters to park the vehicles irregularly in front of their commercial establishments Large-scale irregular parking on the GST Road caused greater inconvenience to the people who were all passing through and it affected the free flow of traffic in the locality the petitioner contended PTI COR SA NVG NVG

Chennai Sep 28 PTI The Madras High Court on Tuesday set aside a defamation case pending against Telangana Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan before a lower court in Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu Though the complaint had been filed under Section 199 read with 200 CrPC for an offence under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code punishment for defamation the Judicial Magistrate Court had issued summons under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act This clearly shows that the trial court has not adverted to the materials placed before it while taking cognizance of the case and the said act of the trial court in issuing a notice under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act for an offence alleged to have been committed under Section 500 IPC exhibits clear non-application of mind on its part and even on the very short ground the cognizance taken by the trial court transforming itself into CC No2122017 deserves to be quashed Justice M Dhandapani said The judge was allowing a criminal original petition from Soundararajan seeking to quash the case As the president of the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party earlier Soundararajan gave an interview to the electronic and print media in 2017 where she termed the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi VCK to which the complainant Dhadi Karthikeyan belonged to as a party which was conducting Kangaroo courts and grabbing lands from the public and uttered derogatory remarks against the party and its head TholThirumavalavan On the said averments a private complaint was filed by Karthikeyan invoking Section 199 read with 200 of the CrPC before the Judicial Magistrate in Kancheepuram which was entertained and taken on file by issuing summons to the petitioner Aggrieved Soundararajan filed the present petition to quash the case The judge pointed that sub-section 6 of Section 199 CrPC would come into play only when the statement alleged to have been made affected the right of the person against whom the offence was reportedly committed to make a complaint in respect of that offence before a Magistrate having jurisdiction or the power of such Magistrate to take cognizance of the offence upon such complaint However in the case on hand as contended by the petitioner the private complaint has been filed by Karthikeyan as a member of the political party against the statements alleged to have been made against the VCK and its leader However neither the person nor the party which was alleged to have been affected by the said statements had given any authorisation to him to file the complaint Karthikeyan on his own accord for reasons best known to him had thought it fit to file the private complaint Him being not affected by the alleged statement his action of invoking the offence us 500 IPC does not merit acceptance the court said Therefore the private complaint alleging defamation has no legs to stand on and the cognizance taken on the said complaint deserves to be quashed the judge said and accordingly set it aside PTI COR SA APR APR

Chennai Sep 22 PTI The Madras High Court on Wednesday lambasted the Joint Commissioner of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments HRCE department for filing a counter-affidavit in response to a PIL petition allegedly in a cavalier manner The cavalier manner in which the counter-affidavit has been prepared cries out for immediate action to be taken against the Joint Commissioner including for contempt Indeed the arrogance of the Joint Commissioner knows no bounds as he suggests in the last paragraph of the affidavit that the procedure contemplated in the HRCE Act 1959 is cumbersome and therefore time-limit may not be fixed the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P D Audikesavalu said The PIL petition filed by Elephant G Rajendran related to the missing of the copper plate at the Bakthavatsala Perumal temple in Tiruvarur district and the encroachment on its 400 acres of land The counter by the Joint Commissioner stated that the copper plate has been recovered and the petitioners grievance in such regard has been taken care of However what is alarming is that paragraph 6 of the counter-affidavit filed by the Joint Commissioner reveals that the temple administration has identified 20693 acres of land belonging to the temple and uploading process in the HR CE website is going on The next sentence is shocking Major part of the lands were leased out to tenants and some encroachers are also in possession The bench noted that there is no indication as to who could have leased out the temple land to any tenant and as to how many encroachers are in possession and what part of the temple land has been let out and what part encroached The HRCE secretary shall furnish full details as to the extent of the land owned by this temple the measures taken to retrieve the land particulars of the tenants to whom parcels of land may have been let out the accounts pertaining to the lease rents that may have been tendered and the steps taken to rid the land of the encroachers Such affidavit must be submitted when the matter appears next a fortnight hence the bench said The secretary would do well to enthuse government servants in the department so that such complete lack of accountability as is revealed from the counter-affidavit filed by the Joint Commissioner here is more the exception than the rule the bench added The Joint Commissioner Thennarasu should file an affidavit to show-cause why immediate appropriate action should not be taken against him for the disrespect shown to the court in the manner in which the affidavit has been drafted and for dereliction of duty in not paying attention to any detail or seeking to furnish the same to court Such explanation should also be available when the matter appears next on October 20 the bench said PTI COR SA APR APR