Madras High Court Weekly Round-Up: April 15 - April 21, 2024

NOMINAL INDEX

V Maharajan v. The Election Commission, 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 161

M/s.Bay-Forge Private Limited Versus Additional/Joint/Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax/ Income Tax Officer, National Faceless Assessment Centre, New Delhi, 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 162

S Dhinakaran v The Commissioner of HR and CE and Ors, 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 163

Ramesh v Selvakumar and Another, 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 164

M/s.Bajrang & Bajrang Versus The State Tax Officer (FAC), 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 165

REPORT

Lok Sabha Election 2024 | Madras High Court Dismisses Plea Challenging Tirunelveli BJP Candidate's Nomination

Case Title: V Maharajan v. The Election Commission

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 161

The Madras High Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea challenging the nomination filed by Nainar Nagendran, BJP's candidate from Tirunelveli.

Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice Sathya Narayana Prasad noted that it was too late to issue any direction at this point considering that the polling in the state of Tamil Nadu was scheduled to be held on 19th April.

The petition was filed by one V Maharajan from Madurai. In his plea, Maharajan had submitted that there was a case pending against Nagendran in Nanguneri Police Station for offences under Sections 341, 294(b), 506(i), 109 of IPC and Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. He added that the details of the above case was deliberately concealed by Nagendran in all four of the nomination papers filed by him.

Opportunity For Hearing Was Refused Due To Assessee's Failure To Click On Appropriate Button, Madras High Court Quashes Faceless Assessment Order

Case Title: M/s.Bay-Forge Private Limited Versus Additional/Joint/Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax/ Income Tax Officer, National Faceless Assessment Centre, New Delhi

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 162

The Madras High Court has quashed the order as the opportunity for hearing was refused due to the assessee's failure to click on the appropriate button.

The bench of Justice Mohammed Shaffiq has observed that the personal hearing ought to have been extended, though the assessee might have failed to click on the appropriate button. The bench, while quashing the order, was directed to pass the order after affording the assessee a reasonable opportunity and personal hearing through a video conference.

Discriminatory Ancient Practises Must Give Way After Adoption Of Constitution: Madras HC Bins Plea Challenging Handing Over Of Sceptre To Widow In Meenakshi Temple

Case Title: S Dhinakaran v The Commissioner of HR and CE and Ors

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 163

Criticizing a litigant for filing pleas objecting to the handing over of a sceptre to a widow during the Pattabhishekam day in Chitra Festival in the Meenakshi Amman Temple, the Madras High Court recently observed that there was no embargo in handing over the Sengol or the Sceptre to a woman or a widow.

Justice C Saravanan added that even if such sanctions were operating in ancient times, these prejudicial and discriminatory practices had to give way in modern times after the adoption of the Constitution. The court also added that objecting to the handing over of the Sceptre to a woman was an affront to equality guaranteed and enshrined under the Constitution.

[Road Accident] Smelling Alcohol In Breath Not Itself Ground To Attribute Contributory Negligence, Must Assess Alcohol Level In Blood: Madras HC

Case Title: Ramesh v Selvakumar and Another

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 164

The Madras High Court recently observed that merely smelling alcohol in the breath of a person brought to the hospital by itself is not a ground to attribute contributory negligence to the person in motor accident cases. The court noted that in most cases, the doctors merely indicated the breath smelled of alcohol without making any effort to find out the percentage of alcohol in the blood.

Justice Anand Venkatesh added that this determination was important to ascertain whether the person who consumed alcohol was within his control to drive the vehicle. The court thus directed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to issue circulars to all hospitals including private hospitals to assess the level of alcohol in blood when an injured or deceased was brought to alcohol and smelt alcohol.

Assessee Can't Be Absolved Of Responsibility AsRegistered Person To Monitor The GST Portal: Madras High Court

Case Title: M/s.Bajrang & Bajrang Versus The State Tax Officer (FAC)

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 165

The Madras High Court held that the assessee cannot be absolved of responsibility as a registered person to monitor the GST portal.

The bench of Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy has observed that an audit was conducted and that an audit report dated 15.09.2023 was issued. An intimation and show cause notice preceded the impugned order. It is noticeable that the tax proposal was confirmed because the petitioner did not submit a reply along with supporting documents. Therefore, by putting the petitioner on terms, the interest of justice demands that the petitioner be provided an opportunity.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

Gratification Of Electors During Election Demolishes Basic Structure Of Constitution And Democracy: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court recently remarked that gratification to voters in the form of money, food, prizes, etc. during elections would demolish the basic structure of the constitution and democracy.

Justice B Pugalendhi of the Madurai bench also lamented that the legislature has not treated such gratifications with gravity as the offence was punishable only with imprisonment to an extent of one year. The judge pointed out that due to the lesser gravity of the offence, the practice of gratification has only increased with every election with around Rs 4,650 crores being seized in the current parliament election so far.

Poll-Ads Pre-Certification: Madras High Court Asks ECI To Produce Supreme Court Order, Says ECI Can't Pass Orders Limiting HC's Jurisdiction

The Madras High Court on Wednesday commented that the ECI could not have doubled up the powers of the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution. The court also remarked that the ECI could not have passed orders limiting the jurisdiction of the High Courts.

The bench of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice Sathya Narayana Prasad was hearing a plea by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam challenging the 2023 Consolidated guidelines to regulate the advertisements by political parties on television channels and cable networks. The party had also challenged an order of the Chief Electoral Officer confirming the rejection of pre-certificate to the party ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections.

“Investigation Underway, Have Traced Most Of Those Who Went Missing From Sadhguru's Isha Foundation”: State Tells Madras HC

Case Title: Thirumalai v Superintendent of Police

Case No: HCP 529 of 2024

The State Government on Thursday informed the Madras High Court that investigation was underway in the case of man-missing from Isha Foundation founded by Sadhguru.

The bench of Justice MS Ramesh and Justice Sunder Mohan was hearing a habeas corpus plea filed by Thirumalai of Tirunelveli District to produce the body of his brother Ganesan.

In the previous hearing, the Additional Public Prosecutor had orally informed the court that since 2016, six people had gone missing from Isha Foundation.

On Thursday, when asked about the details of the investigation with respect to the earlier submission, the APP informed the court that the investigation was underway and 5 out of the 6 missing persons had been traced. The court was further informed that the remaining person to be traced was the petitioner's brother and 36 witnesses had already been examined including officials from Isha Foundation. The state requested for further time to complete the investigation and for filing the final report.