Madras High Court Weekly Round-Up: August 7 to August 13, 2023

Citations: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 219 To 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 226

NOMINAL INDEX

Muthupalanichamy and another v Gnana Pragasam and others, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 219

P Elangovan and others v R Prema Latha and others, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 220

Senthilkumar D v Government of Tamil Nadu and others, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 221

Matrimony.Com Ltd v Alphabet Inc and others (and connected cases), 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 222

K Indulekha v. The Chairman, TNPSC and others, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 223

A Anand v. The Superintendent of Police and others, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 224

Arunkanth v Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board and others, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 225

A Lakshminarayanan v The Assistant General Manager, 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 226

REPORT

Madras High Court Suspends Sentence Of IAS Officer, Others In Contempt Case

Case Title: Muthupalanichamy and another v Gnana Pragasam and others

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 219

The Madras High Court has suspended the order of imprisonment against IAS officer Pradeep Yadav and two others in the contempt case for failure to implement court orders while he was holding the post of the Principal Secretary to the School Education Department.

The division bench of Justice SS Sundar and Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy of the Madurai bench suspended the sentence while hearing an appeal preferred against the order of the single judge.

Madras High Court Forms 2-Member Committee To Look Into 'Irregularities' In Appointment Of Assistant Professors In Institutions Of Pachaiyappa’s Trust

Case Title; P Elangovan and others v R Prema Latha and others

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 220

The Madras High Court has constituted a 2-member committee to make a detailed report on the appointments of 254 candidates to the post of Assistant Professors in the institutions of the Pachaiyappa’s Trust pursuant to the recruitment notifications dated 12.12.2013 and 18.02.2014.

Former Madras High Court Judge Justice B Gokuldas will be the Chairman of the committee and Dr. Freeda Gnana Rani, Ex-Principal of Quaid-e-Millath Government College for Women will be the other member of the committee.

The bench of Justice R Mahadevan and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq directed the committee to look into the requisite qualifications and eligibility criteria as prescribed under the recruitment notifications under which the appointments were made and to look into the qualification and other eligibility criteria of all the appointees to see if they are eligible or not.

Madras High Court Orders Restoration of Palani Murugan Temple Display Board Prohibiting Entry For Non-Hindus

Case Title: Senthilkumar D v Government of Tamil Nadu and others

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 221

The Madras High Court has ordered a status quo ante in the Arulmighu Palani Dhandayuthapani Swamy temple by directing the respondent authorities to restore the display board stating that non-Hindus are not allowed in the temple.

Justice S Srimathy of the Madurai bench made the direction in a plea by D Senthilkumar, organizer of Palani Hill Temple Devotees Organization. who moved the court after noting that recently non-Hindus had purchased tickets to reach the Hilltop temple and when they were not allowed to the temple, had argued saying that the hilltop was a tourist place and could be visited by outsiders. Senthilkumar sought a direction to permit only Hindus to the Hill temple premises and its sub-temples and to ensure display boards in the temple.

Madras High Court Dismisses 14 Petitions Against Google's Billing Policy, Says Matter Falls Within CCI's Domain

Case Title: Matrimony.Com Ltd v Alphabet Inc and others (and connected cases)

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 222

The Madras High Court has dismissed a majority of pleas filed by Indian startups against Google's new user choice billing system. A total of 14 out of 16 petitions have been dismissed. The two remaining petitions filed by Disney+Hotstar and Testbook are pending.

Dismissing the petitions, Justice S Sounthar on August 3 said that the matter falls within the jurisdiction of the Competition Commission of India and that the remedy available under the Competition Act is much more comprehensive than that available before a civil court. The court added that the pleas are barred by Section 61 of the Competition Act which expressly forbids civil courts from hearing any lawsuit or action that the Commission is authorised to decide.

Judicial Service Examinations Should Be Conducted Every Year To Reduce Number Of Pending Cases: Madras High Court

Case Title: K Indulekha v. The Chairman, TNPSC and others

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 223

The Madras High Court has suggested that judicial examinations should be conducted every year to reduce the pendency of cases in the courts.

A division bench of Justice S Vaidyanathan and Justice K Rajasekar was hearing petitions against the Advertisement and Notification relating to the selection process of Civil Judge issued by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission.

The court noted that the principles governing a recruitment process with regard to determination of a cut-off are well settled and it is for the Authority to fix the cut-off date or age limit in accordance with the rules. The court, relying upon the judgment of the Apex Court in Rachna and others vs. Union of India and another held that unless the public policy is capricious and totally arbitrary, the Court cannot blindly stall the selection process.

Madras High Court Asks CBI To Proceed With Probe Against Pondicherry University Professor, Others For Alleged Misappropriation Of Funds

Case Title: A Anand v. The Superintendent of Police and others

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 224

The Madras High Court has asked the CBI to register a case based on a private complaint alleging misappropriation of funds by a former officiating Director of Human Resources Development Center at Pondicherry University.

Justice G Jayachandran noted that though the CBI had sought prior approval under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the Under Secretary to the Government had not responded to the request and later, after filing of the writ, had informed the CBI that the Executive Council of the University had decided not to grant sanction.

'Had Only Exercised His Fundamental Right To Protest': Madras High Court Directs Authorities To Appoint Candidate As Police Constable

Case Title: Arunkanth v Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board and others

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 225

Observing that the right to protest for a common cause is a fundamental right of each and every citizen of the country, the Madras High Court directed the authorities to give an appointment order to a man whose application to the post of Grade-II Police Constable was rejected on the ground that he had participated in protests against the NEET examination during his college days.

Justice L Victoria Gowri of the Madurai bench said:

“The respondent authorities failed to consider the fact that there are no other criminal antecedents as against the petitioner and this particular crime has nothing to do with any criminal implication as far as the petitioner is concerned and he had only exercised his fundamental right to protest by participating in the protest organized by his fellow students and definitely, it will not have any implication as to the nature of the job for which he has applied to as Grade-II Police Constable,” the court said.

Employee Has "Right To Vent", Management Cannot Take Action For Messages Sent In Private WhatsApp Group: Madras High Court

Case Title: A Lakshminarayanan v The Assistant General Manager

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 226

While setting aside a charge memo issued against an employee of the Tamil Nadu Grama Bank, the Madras High Court noted that every employee has a "right to vent" and the management could not take action against the employees for messages that were posted in a WhatsApp group chat expressing critical views against the management so long as such messages were otherwise within the legal bounds.

Justice GR Swaminathan of the Madurai bench held that though an employee was to show courtesy to a superior officer while gossiping privately, the superior officer may come in for all kinds of criticism. The judge added that when the management cannot interfere with gossip that takes place over a cup of tea, it could also not interfere just because the same exchange took place on a virtual platform.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

Madras High Court Judge Acts As Whistleblower; Declares As Illegal HC Order Transferring Trial Of Corruption Case Against TN Minister

Case Title: Suo Moto RC v. Vigilance and Anti Corruption wing

Case No: CRL RC 1419 of 2023

In an extraordinary and unprecedented move, the Madras High Court on Thursday passed an order raising doubts at the manner in which District Judge Vellore passed the judgment acquitting Tamil Nadu Minister Ponmudy and his wife in a disproportionate assets case.

Justice Anand Venkatesh exercised suo motu revision powers to hold that the transfer of the case against the Higher Education Minister from District Judge at Villupuram to District Judge at Vellore was "ex-facie illegal and non-est in the eye of law". Notably, the transfer of the case was ordered by the Madras High Court itself in its administrative side.

In a strongly worded order, Justice Venkatesh said that there is "something seriously amiss about the procedure adopted in transferring the case to a different Court and that too at the fag end of the trial". Not only that, the judge also raised doubts at the acquittal itself, noting that within a span of 4 days after the arguments were over on June 23, the trial judge "managed to write a 226-page judgment acquitting the accused" on June 28. "Two days thereafter, on 30.06.2023, the Principal District Judge, Vellore retired and cheerfully rode off into the sunset", Justice Venkatesh said.