Madras High Court Weekly Round-Up: November 7 To November 13, 2022

Citations: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 456 To 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 460

NOMINAL INDEX

Lilly Pushpam v The Additional Chief Secretary and others, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 456

N/s.Sayar Cars Versus The Appellate Deputy Commissioner (CT), 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 457

Vinoth v Sub Divisional Magistrate and others, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 458

K Vinopratha v The Teachers Recruitment Board and another, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 459

Ramki Cements Private Limited Versus The State Tax Officer, 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 460

REPORTS

1. 14 Days Inordinate & Unexplained Delay In Considering Detainee's Representation Sufficient To Quash Preventive Detention Order: Madras HC

Case Title: Lilly Pushpam v The Additional Chief Secretary and others

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 456

The Madras High Court recently set aside a preventive detention order after observing that there was an inordinate and unexplained delay of 14 days in considering the representation made on behalf of the detenu.

The court relied on the decisions of Supreme Court in Rekha v State of Tamil Nadu, Tara Chand v State of Rajasthan and others and the decision of the Madras High Court in Sumaiya v The Secretary to Government where the court has repeatedly held that unexplained delay renders the very detention illegal and is sufficient for setting aside the detention order. In view of the same, the court directed the respondents to release the detenue forthwith.

2. Assessment Made To Best Of Judgment Of Authority Would Not Be Sufficient For Imposition Of Penalty: Madras High Court

Case Title: N/s.Sayar Cars Versus The Appellate Deputy Commissioner (CT)

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 457

The Madras High Court has held that the assessment made to the best of the authority's judgement would not be sufficient for the imposition of penalty, as the degree of proof required for the imposition of penalty is much higher than that required for the purpose of framing a best judgement assessment.

The single bench of Justice Anita Sumanth has observed that the petitioner has admittedly remitted the difference in tax along with interest even at the time of inspection. The imposition of a penalty under Section 27(3) of the Tamil Nadu VAT Act was automatic and erroneous in law.

3. 'Casually Playing With Personal Liberty Of Accused': Madras HC Recommends Criminal Law Training For Executive Magistrates

Case Title: Vinoth v Sub Divisional Magistrate and others

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 458

The Madras High Court recently came down heavily on Executive Magistrates passing orders "without knowing or understanding the basic concepts of criminal law". The remarks were made while hearing a challenge to an order passed by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate cum Revenue Divisional Magistrate under Section 122(1) (b) of CrPC.

Justice K Murali Shankar lamented that the Executive Magistrates were passing orders mechanically, without conducting any sort of inquiry.

The court thus noted that the government should conduct Training/Refresher Courses for newly appointed Executive Magistrates to ensure that they conduct enquiry in a proper manner.

4. Judicial Review Cannot Be Totally Ousted When Key Answer Is Manifestly Erroneous, Court Cannot Shut Eyes To Obvious: Madras High Court

Case Title: K Vinopratha v The Teachers Recruitment Board and another

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 459

The Madras High Court recently said that when the answer key is manifestly and patently erroneous, interference will be warranted.

The court added, that the apex court in Kanpur University v. Samir Gupta has held that key answer should be assumed to be correct unless it is proved to be wrong and that it should not be held to be wrong by an inferential process of reasoning or by a process of rationalization.

5. Show Cause Notice Issued To The Driver Of Consignment Is Not Adequate: Madras High Court

Case Title: Ramki Cements Private Limited Versus The State Tax Officer

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Mad) 460

The Madras High Court has held that the show-cause notice issued to the driver of the consignment is not adequate.

The single bench of Justice S. Srimathy has quashed the demand for tax and penalty in Form GST MOV-09 and directed the department to issue a fresh notice.

The court opined that the petitioner was not given an adequate opportunity. The petitioner has not received the show cause notice. The show-cause notice issued to the driver was not adequate. Therefore, the order is liable to be set aside.

OTHER DEVELOPMENT

1. What Language I Teach My Children In, Does Not Have Any Cross Border Implications; Should Not Be Decided By Parliament: TN Govt To Madras HC

While hearing petitions seeking to move education from the concurrent list to the state list, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the State of Tamil Nadu submitted that Education was one such area where no one policy fits all.

Sibal was making submissions before a bench of Justice R Mahadevan, Justice M Sundar, and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy in favor of moving education to the State list. According to Sibal, each state had its own differences and it was not possible to give uniform criteria for all states.

Sibal further submitted that while the Parliament could impose certain standards, what must be the curriculum taught in schools to meet these standards should essentially be decided by the States. He emphasized that a child must be taught in his mother tongue. But when the Parliament invades into the power of the State, it can also possibly impose a uniform language which would be against the interest of the children

Also Read: 42nd Constitutional Amendment Poisonous, State Better Equipped To Deal With Matters Of Education: Argument In Madras HC To Move Edu To State List

2. Madras High Court Reserves Judgment On Former Minister SP Velumani's Petitions Seeking Quashing Of FIRs In Corruption Case

Case Title: Arappor Iyakkam v The Director and others

Case No: WP No. 34845 of 2018

The Madras High Court on Tuesday reserved its decision on the pleas moved by former AIADMK Minister SP Velumani for quashing of the FIRs alleging irregularity in grant of contracts during his tenure.

The bench of Justice PN Prakash and Justice RMT Teeka Raman, that deals with cases relating to MPs and MLAs, reserved the judgment after hearing the counsel representing different parties including the former minister and prosecution.

3. Isha Foundation's Yoga Centre Is 'Educational Institution': Madras High Court, Allows It To Challenge State's Show Cause Notice

Case Title: Isha Foundation v. Union of India

Case No: WP No. 467 of 2022

The Madras High Court on Wednesday observed that Jaggi Vasudev's Isha Foundation would come within the purview of "Educational Institutions" as per the clarification issued by the Central Government in 2014 with regard to the entities that are exempted from getting mandatory environmental clearance before commencing construction work.

The bench of Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Krishnakumar observed that the Office Memorandum also included those institutions which was essential to mental, moral and physical development. Since there was no dispute that the centre was imparting yoga, it promoted mental development and thus would come within the purview of educational institutions.

4. All India Gaming Federation Moves Madras High Court Against TN Govt Ordinance On Online Gaming

Case Title: All India Gaming Federation v State of Tamil Nadu and another

Case No: WP No. 29911 of 2022

The All India Gaming Federation has moved Madras High Court challenging Tamil Nadu government's recent ordinance banning online gambling in the State. The ordinance promulgated by the State last month also regulates other online games.

According to the ordinance, online gambling and online games are addictive and increase the threat to public order. The ordinance also states that issues of online gaming and gambling cannot be dealt with by the old binary of game of chance versus game of skill and "a new conceptual framework" is needed to understand the different versions of games.

The petitioners before the court contend that games like poker and rummy would not come under the ambit of "betting and gambling" as they are games which require skills. It has been further submitted that a majority of states in India have kept the games outside the ambit of "betting and gambling".

5. MS Dhoni's Contempt Plea: Madras HC Orders IPS Officer Sampath Kumar To Appear In Court On December 9

Case Title: Mahendra Singh Dhoni v. G Sampath Kumar

Case No: Contempt Petition 2361 of 2022

The Madras High Court on Friday ordered IPS officer G Sampath Kumar to appear in court on December 9 in a contempt petition filed by cricketer MS Dhoni.

The bench of Justice PN Prakash and Justice RMT Teekaa Raman ordered statutory notice when the matter was taken up today.

Dhoni had approached the court seeking initiation of criminal contempt proceedings against the IPS officer for allegedly making contemptuous remarks against the Supreme Court and Madras High Court in connection with the 2013 IPL scandal.