MADURAI: Justice GR Swaminathan of the Madras High Court’s Madurai Bench on Wednesday observed that law and order cannot be a ground to flout court’s orders, and such an attempt would amount to breakdown of law and order and paralysis of the constitutional machinery.
Hearing two contempt petitions filed over non-compliance of his order dated December 1, directing the lighting of Karthigai Deepam on the ‘deepathoon’ atop the Thiruparankundram hill, the judge said unless an order was set aside or stayed, it had to be obeyed.
He also sought a “responsible response” from the Tamil Nadu chief secretary on why court orders were repeatedly being left unimplemented by the authorities at the district level.
In the previous hearing, the judge had taken note of frequent violation of his orders by authorities in various districts and had directed Chief Secretary N Muruganandam and Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Davidson Devasirvatham to appear through video-conference and provide an explanation.
When the petitions were taken up on Wednesday afternoon, the two officers were present through video conference, while the alleged contemnors — Madurai Collector KJ Praveen Kumar, City Police Commissioner J Loganathan, Deputy Commissioner (South) AG Inigo Divyan and Executive Officer of Subramaniya Swamy temple Yagna Narayanan — appeared in person.
The judge cited two cases relating to the lighting of the Karthigai Deepam, one at the Thiruparankundram hill in Madurai and another at the Mandu Karuppasamy temple in Dindigul. In both the cases, the respective district collectors had passed prohibitory orders under Section 163 of BNSS to nullify the court’s orders, the judge pointed out.
In how many cases am I to haul up officers for contempt: Judge
The judge also asked the chief secretary whether the officers had passed the prohibitory orders entirely on their own or on instructions.
He also referred to another case relating to illegal construction of a church in an undivided family property at Athoor taluk in Dindigul without prior approval from the collector. Based on a petition filed by one of the family members against the construction, an order of injunction was passed by him but the authorities had failed to stop the construction citing law and order issues, leading to a contempt petition, the judge added. “I am tired. In how many cases, am I to haul up the officers concerned for contempt,” the judge asked.
The chief secretary replied that the government has the highest regards for court’s orders but in some cases, the authorities may not be able to comply due to reasons such as financial constraints of the government or law and order issues. This is not intentional, and in such cases, the government exercises its appeal rights, which was done in the above cases as well, he added and sought a month’s time to file a detailed reply.
The judge, however, said the reasons cited were unacceptable. While there may be cases where a judicial order cannot be implemented, law and order cannot be a ground for flouting a court’s order, the judge said, and adjourned the case to January 9, adding that the chief secretary should take a responsible stand while filing his reply. The four officers facing contempt would have to appear at the next hearing as well.
TN authorities not secular: Counsel
Opposing the appeal filed by the state and Madurai authorities against the single judge’s order, counsel representing Hindu devotees said TN authorities have “undisguised scorn and contempt towards” their faith and that they were not being secular
The story is reported by Jegadeeswari Pandian of The New Indian Express
