Madras High Court Weekly Round-Up: January 16 to January 22, 2023
Upasana Sajeev
23 Jan 2023 8:32 AM IST
A weekly round-up of important cases from the Madras High Court and its subordinate courts. Citations: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 15 To 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 24 NOMINAL INDEX Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (Coimbatore) Ltd and another v. B Rajeswari, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 15 Rathinam v State, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 16 M Mahalakshmi v. M Vijayakumar, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad)...
A weekly round-up of important cases from the Madras High Court and its subordinate courts.
Citations: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 15 To 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 24
NOMINAL INDEX
Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (Coimbatore) Ltd and another v. B Rajeswari, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 15
Rathinam v State, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 16
M Mahalakshmi v. M Vijayakumar, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 17
Pugazendhi Thangaraj v. Inspector of Police, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 18
Timothy Donald Archer v. The Foreigner Regulation Registration Offer and others, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 19
Rajeshwari v State, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 20
G Shanmugasundar v. The Principal Secretary to Government and others, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 21
Sankareswari and another v. The District Collector and others, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 22
M/s AQJ Apparels Private Limited v. M/s Mmunna Garments and another, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 23
Tvl.Thiruvannamalaiyar Transport Versus The Deputy State Tax Officer, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 24
REPORT
Case Title: Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (Coimbatore) Ltd and another v. B Rajeswari
Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 15
While dismissing an appeal preferred by Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation against a single judge order directing the organization to pay maternity benefits to a temporary employee, the Madras High Court recently held that welfare legislation like the Maternity Benefits Act cannot be denied merely on the basis of technicalities.
Highlighting the importance of maternity benefits for women, Justice S Vaidyanathan and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq went on to observe that a woman must not be forced to swing between motherhood and work like a pendulum and that even in Hindu mythology, women who sacrificed their lives for their families were considered at par with God.
Madras High Court Directs State To Compensate Man Detained For 8 Months Despite Acquittal
Case Title: Rathinam v State
Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 16
The Madras High Court recently directed the State to award interim compensation to a man who was illegally detained in prison for more than 8 months even after the court had acquitted him of his murder charges.
Justice Sunder Mohan noted that since the man was not aware of his rights, he had not preferred an appeal and as such was not aware of his acquittal. Thus, it was necessary for the court to come to the aid of such persons.
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Case Title: M Mahalakshmi v. M Vijayakumar
Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 17
While hearing a petition to transfer a matrimonial dispute from Pudukottai to Ponneri in Tamil Nadu, the Madras High Court noted that the father, who was working as a Village Administration Officer was not paying interim maintenance to his 10 year old daughter.
While directing him to make such payment irrespective of visitation rights, Justice SM Subramaniam also directed the District Collector to take strict action against the officer under service rules if he failed to pay such interim maintenance.
Case Title: Pugazendhi Thangaraj v. Inspector of Police
Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 18
The Madras High Court has allowed a petition filed by director Pugazendhi Thangaraj and relaxed the conditions imposed on celebrating the birth anniversary of late LTTE Leader Prabhakaran.
Though the court relaxed the conditions imposed by the police, Justice G Chandrasekharan stressed that the event should not affect the sovereignty of the nation or its friendly relations with other nations.
Case Title: Timothy Donald Archer v. The Foreigner Regulation Registration Offer and others
Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 19
The Madras High Court has directed the Centre to allow a UK national to return to his country without payment of any penalty for the overstay. The man was stranded in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The court took note of a submission that Ministry of Home Affairs has clarified that the foreign nationals who got stranded in India on account of Covid-19 Pandemic, may apply for an exit permit which would be granted on gratis basis, without levy of any overstay penalty.
Justice GR Swaminathan of the Madurai bench directed the authorities to expeditiously grant exit permit to the UK national on his renewed passport, so that he can return to his parent country.
Case Title: Rajeshwari v State
Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 20
The Madras High Court has recently set aside the life imprisonment imposed on a mother for setting her minor daughter on fire and thereby causing her death.
Altering the charge from that under Section 302 to one under Section 304 of IPC, Justice PN Prakash (since retired) and Justice G Jayachandran noted that the primary question was whether the appellant mother had intended to commit the murder of her daughter.
Case Title: G Shanmugasundar v. The Principal Secretary to Government and others
Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 21
While directing demolition of an unauthorised construction in Tiruchirappalli, the Madras High Court said that though various enactments are in force to achieve planned development, it will remain a pipe dream because of continuous unauthorised constructions by builders and inaction of government.
The division bench of Justice R Mahadevan and Justice Sathya Narayana Prasad of the Madurai bench ordered demolition of the unauthorised portion of a four-story building. The court also noted that by not taking any action, the officers concerned had indirectly encouraged the promoter to continue with the illegal construction.
Case Title: Sankareswari and another v. The District Collector and others
Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 22
The Madras High Court recently came to the rescue of two children who had suffered severe burn injuries in 2018 on account of an explosion near a water body in Sivakasi.
The explosion was a result of improper dumping of wastes from the firecracker industries nearby. The children, students of class X, were playing near the waterbody at the time of explosion.
Holding the State liable, Justice GR Swaminathan of the Madurai bench directed it to pay a sum of Rs.10 lakh each to the victims.
Case Title: M/s AQJ Apparels Private Limited v. M/s Mmunna Garments and another
Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 23
While hearing a plea praying for a leave to sue, the Madras High Court noted that the Registry was using Postal pin codes to determine the territorial jurisdiction of the court. Justice M Sundar thus directed the registry to only use the Jurisdictional Limits Act and the Jurisdictional Limits Extension Act to determine the jurisdiction of the court.
The court also opined that, if necessary, a map could be drawn out of the territorial limits. Since an earlier attempt to follow the map was later discontinued, the court thought it fit to revisit the aspect and thus directed the Registry to place the matter before the Acting Chief Justice for suitable orders.
Case Title: Tvl.Thiruvannamalaiyar Transport Versus The Deputy State Tax Officer
Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 24
The Madras High Court has imposed a minor penalty and held that the expiry of the E-way bill does not create any scope for evasion.
The single bench of Justice M. Sunder has observed that assuming there was no breakdown and assuming the portal was active, the maximum penalty would be Rs. 5,000.
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
The Governor of Tamil Nadu Dr RN Ravi has moved the Principal District and Sessions Court, Chennai seeking action against suspended DMK member Shivaji Krishamoorthy, for making defamatory remarks against him.
In a speech made on January 13th, Krishnamoorthy had remarked that if the Governor could not read out the speech given by the Tamil Nadu government, he could go to Kashmir. He further went on to say that he would then send Terrorists so that they could gun down the Governor.
Presenting the complaint on behalf of the Governor, the city public prosecutor submitted that the speech made by Krishnamoorthy contained malicious defamatory statements against the Governor. Krishnamoorthy's speech directly impeaches the reputation of the Governor and his administration, complaint said.
The Supreme Court Collegium in its meeting held on 17th January 2023 has recommended the elevation of five advocates and three judicial officers as Judges in the Madras High Court.
The Madurai bench of Madras High Court has sought a detailed report from the District Collector, Pudukottai and the Superintendent of Police in relation to the unfortunate incident of mixing human feces in overhead tank which resulted in the hospitalisation of persons belonging to scheduled caste community in Pudukottai district.
When the case came before a bench of Justice D Krishnakumar and Justice R Vijayakumar on Thursday, the court was informed that the investigation has been transferred to the CB-CID.
4. Will Consider Setting Up A Bench Of Madras High Court In Puducherry: Law Minister Kiren Rijiju
The Law Minister on Thursday said that the Centre will consider the Union Territory of Puducherry’s demand for setting up a bench of the Madras High Court in Puducherry. The Minister was speaking at an event organized for laying the foundation stone for lawyers' chambers at the Integrated court complex in Puducherry.
The Minister said that the demands will be considered positively and the Judiciary will be consulted on whether to have a full-fledged bench or circuit bench of the High Court. He said that such a bench would help litigants in accessing justice so that people need not travel to Chennai for appeal and litigation purposes.
5. Not Feasible To Operate Only Low Floor Buses In State, Transport Department Tells Madras High Court
The Institute of Road Transport on Friday informed the Madras High Court that it is not technically feasible for the State Transport Undertakings to have only low-floor buses in the state.
The bench of Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy was hearing a plea filed by cross-disability rights activist Vaishnavi Jayakumar against a tender notification issued by the Tamil Nadu Transport Department for procuring 1770 non-AC diesel buses with a floor height of 900mm.
Two judges of the Madras High Court, Justice MS Ramesh and Justice Anand Venkatesh are set to visit the Tiruchengode Arthanareeswarar temple from where Gokulraj was kidnapped and later murdered.
While hearing the appeals preferred against the conviction, the High Court bench has now decided to inspect the temple property to understand the topography of the place. They are set to visit the temple on January 22.
Since the prosecution heavily relied on the last seen theory, and since the topography sketches produced before the court did not disclose the exact location of CCTV cameras, the court noted that such inspection would be helpful in understanding the temple property, checking the entrance and exit points, and seeing the location of the CCTV cameras.
A lawyer from Chennai has approached the Madras High Court seeking action against Director Mani Ratnam for allegedly portraying the wrong history of the Chola empire in his movie Ponniyin Selvan: I.
Advocate L.K. Charles Alexander in his petition alleges that the director has distorted the history of the Chola dynasty for commercial purposes and has used the names of the historical figures in his movie to "intentionally defame the history" "being preserved" by the Central Government.
