Jan 09 2015 : The Times of India (Chennai)
TN lawyer sent to jail for criticizing Jaya case judge
Bosco Dominique
Cuddalore:
A lawyer was on Wednesday awarded a sevenday jail term for pasting posters condemning the judge who convicted AIADMK leader and former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case. The lawyer, T Thangakolanjinathan, is a member of the AIADMK advocates' wing in Cuddalore district.
District munsif-cum-judicial magistrate in Tittakudi, S Uthamaraj, found the 50year-old advocate, practising in the same court, guilty of displaying posters containing objectionable comments.
The judge also sentenced him to another seven days in jail for disfigurement of public places. The two sentences would run concurrently. Thangakolanjinathan expressed regret for his actions.
The Tittakudi police sent him to the Cuddalore central prison. Twoweeks after the verdict in the assets case, Thangako lanjinathan put up posters in public places in Tittakudi, criticizing Bengaluru special court judge John Michael Cunha for convicting and sentencing Jayalalithaa to four years of imprisonment and slapping a penalty of `100 crore on her.
Cunha had also sentenced Sasikalaa, Ilavarasi and V N Sudhakaran to four years' imprisonment and fined them `10 crore each.
The posters also carried the names of minister for commercial taxes and registration M C Sampath and MPs A Arunmozhidevan and A Navaneethakrishnan. It cre ated a flutter in the region and the Tittakudi police booked the advocate under Section 3 (penalty for disfigurement by objectionable advertisements) and Section 4 (penalty for unauthorized disfigure ment by advertisements) of the Tamil Nadu Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1959, after the Tittakudi village administrative officer lodged a complaint. Police arrested Thangakolanjinathan and later released him on bail.
AIADMK leaders and workers launched a series of protests after Jayalalaithaa's conviction. The judiciary reacted sharply and pulled up the protesters. In one such action in December last year, the Madras high court directed the Vellore corporation to apologize to Cunha for passing a resolution criticizing Jayalalithaa's conviction. Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M Sathyanarayanan asked the civic body to publish an apology in newspapers and send copies to Cunha along with a copy of the court order. DMK's senior counsel P Wilson filed a public interest litigation pointing out that the resolution passed by the corporation brought disrepute to the judiciary in general.
Samathur town panchayat near Pollachi in Coimbatore district, which too had passed a similar resolution, told the court it had recalled the resolution. The bench directed the government to issue orders to cancel the controversial resolution after Wilson pointed out that the local body had no power to withdraw resolutions and only the government could do so. The court has posted the matter to February 9 for further hearing.
TN lawyer sent to jail for criticizing Jaya case judge
Bosco Dominique
Cuddalore:
A lawyer was on Wednesday awarded a sevenday jail term for pasting posters condemning the judge who convicted AIADMK leader and former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case. The lawyer, T Thangakolanjinathan, is a member of the AIADMK advocates' wing in Cuddalore district.
District munsif-cum-judicial magistrate in Tittakudi, S Uthamaraj, found the 50year-old advocate, practising in the same court, guilty of displaying posters containing objectionable comments.
The judge also sentenced him to another seven days in jail for disfigurement of public places. The two sentences would run concurrently. Thangakolanjinathan expressed regret for his actions.
The Tittakudi police sent him to the Cuddalore central prison. Twoweeks after the verdict in the assets case, Thangako lanjinathan put up posters in public places in Tittakudi, criticizing Bengaluru special court judge John Michael Cunha for convicting and sentencing Jayalalithaa to four years of imprisonment and slapping a penalty of `100 crore on her.
Cunha had also sentenced Sasikalaa, Ilavarasi and V N Sudhakaran to four years' imprisonment and fined them `10 crore each.
The posters also carried the names of minister for commercial taxes and registration M C Sampath and MPs A Arunmozhidevan and A Navaneethakrishnan. It cre ated a flutter in the region and the Tittakudi police booked the advocate under Section 3 (penalty for disfigurement by objectionable advertisements) and Section 4 (penalty for unauthorized disfigure ment by advertisements) of the Tamil Nadu Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1959, after the Tittakudi village administrative officer lodged a complaint. Police arrested Thangakolanjinathan and later released him on bail.
AIADMK leaders and workers launched a series of protests after Jayalalaithaa's conviction. The judiciary reacted sharply and pulled up the protesters. In one such action in December last year, the Madras high court directed the Vellore corporation to apologize to Cunha for passing a resolution criticizing Jayalalithaa's conviction. Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M Sathyanarayanan asked the civic body to publish an apology in newspapers and send copies to Cunha along with a copy of the court order. DMK's senior counsel P Wilson filed a public interest litigation pointing out that the resolution passed by the corporation brought disrepute to the judiciary in general.
Samathur town panchayat near Pollachi in Coimbatore district, which too had passed a similar resolution, told the court it had recalled the resolution. The bench directed the government to issue orders to cancel the controversial resolution after Wilson pointed out that the local body had no power to withdraw resolutions and only the government could do so. The court has posted the matter to February 9 for further hearing.
No comments:
Post a Comment