Madras High Court Weekly Round-Up: December 23 to December 29, 2024

NOMINAL INDEX

Rangarajan Narasimnhan v State of Tamil Nadu, 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 489

M.Tamilselvan v The District Collector and Others, 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 490

H Raja v The State, 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 491

R Varalakshmi v The Government of Tamil Nadu and Others, 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 492

REPORT

Madras High Court Grants Interim Bail To Temple Activist, Asks Him To Refrain From Making Objectionable Comments Against Women

Case Title: Rangarajan Narasimnhan v State of Tamil Nadu

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 489

The Madras High Court has granted bail to temple activist Rangarajan Narasimham for allegedly making derogatory comments against a woman on social media.

While granting interim bail, Justice V Lakshminarayanan asked Narasimham to delete all the offensive messages and refrain from making any vituperative comments against women in any of the social media forums. The court also directed Narasimhan not to commit any similar offences.

Previously, in another case, the High Court had also ordered a two-week 'social media detox' for Narasimhan for his distasteful comments against an industrialist. The court had also imposed a fine on him and commented that protectors of Sanatana Dharma should refrain from using such unsavoury words.

Assets And Liabilities Of Public Servant Cannot Be Shielded From Public Scrutiny, Be Completely Exempted U/S 8 Of RTI Act: Madras High Court

Case Title: M.Tamilselvan v The District Collector and Others

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 490

The Madras High Court recently held that the service register of a public servant could not be completely exempted under Section 8 of the Right to Information Act. Section 8(j) of the RTI Act exempts personal information from disclosure.

Justice CV Karthikeyan observed that the service register of the public servant contains details of the assets and liabilities of the employee which were not private information. The court noted that these details could not be shielded from the public scrutiny. However, the court added that though this information had to be disclosed, there had to be some reasonable restrictions.

The court also added that the materials in the service register had to be scrutinized and if the disclosure is denied, necessary reasons for such denial should be provided.

Madras High Court Suspends Sentence Imposed On BJP's H Raja Over Comments Against Periyar, Kanimozhi

Case Title: H Raja v The State

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 491

The Madras High Court on Friday suspended the sentence imposed on BJP's H Raja for his derogatory speech against Periyar and Kanimozhi Karunanidhi. The special court had imposed the sentence on December 2.

Justice L Victoria Gowri suspended the 6-month sentence imposed on him by the Special Court for Trial of Cases Against MLAs/MPs in Chennai The special court had sentenced Raja for the comments made by him in 2018. The orders were passed after the High Court refused to quash the case against him and directed the Special Court to complete the case within 3 months.

Raja had tweeted against EV Ramasamy, popularly known as Periyar saying that the Atheist leader's statues should be broken and also addressing Periyar as a caste fanatic. Raja had also made insensitive remarks against Kanimozhi, calling her the illegitimate child of former TN CM Karunanidhi.

Madras High Court Forms SIT To Investigate The Alleged Sexual Assault Of Student In Anna University, Orders 25 Lakh Interim Compensation To Survivor

Case Title: R Varalakshmi v The Government of Tamil Nadu and Others

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 492

Madras High Court on Saturday (December 28) formed a Special Investigation Team comprising of women IPS officers to investigate into the alleged sexual assault of a 2nd Year Engineering Student inside the Anna Univeristy campus in Chennai earlier on Monday.

A division bench of Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice V Lakshminarayanan held a special sitting on Saturday and passed the orders on a batch of pleas seeking a CBI probe into the incident. The court said that there were lapses on the part of the police and the University and was thus inclined to form the SIT.

The court also remarked that the leaking of the FIR, containing the personal details of the victim has to be viewed seriously and investigated into. The court said that the FIR leak was a serious lapse on the part of the police which caused trauma for the victim and her family. The court directed the State to pay an interim compensation of Rs. 25 Lakh to the victim girl, which could be recovered from those who were responsible for the dereliction of duty and leaking of the FIR. The court added that the compensation ordered presently, would not prevent the victim from seeking compensation in the criminal cases.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

Madras HC Seeks Response On Plea Seeking Formulation & Implementation Of Technical & Operational Protocols For Gender Affirmative Care Procedures

Case Title: Fred Rogers v The Health and Family Welfare Department and Others

Case No: WP 35883 of 2024

The Madras High Court has directed the National Medical Council, Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare Department, Madras Medical College and Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Government Rajaji Medical College and Hospital, National Health Mission Tamil Nadu, Directorate of Medical Education and Research, Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services to respond to a plea seeking protocols for gender affirmative surgery.

The bench of Justice SS Sundar and Justice P Dhanabal directed the respondents to file counter and adjourned the case by 4 weeks.

The plea was filed by Fred Rogers, a man of trans experience. The plea seeks directions to the Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare Department to formulate and implement technical and operational protocols for gender affirmative care procedures, after due public consultations as per the World Professional Association for Transgender Health Guidelines (WPATH) Standards of care as mandated under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019.