ஜப்பான் மன்னராக நபுஹிடோ பதவியேற்பு: 10 நாட்களுக்கு பொது விடுமுறை அறிவிப்பு

By DIN | Published on : 01st May 2019 08:31 AM



ஜப்பான் நாட்டின் புதிய மன்னராக, ஜப்பான் மன்னர் அகிஹிடோவின் மகனும் பட்டத்து இளவரசருமான நருஹிடோ இன்று பதவியேற்றார்.


ஜப்பான் நாட்டின் மன்னர் அகிஹிட்டோ வயது மூப்பு காரணமாக ஓய்வு பெறுவதாகவும், அரசு குடும்பத்தில் ஒருமித்த முடிவு எடுக்கப்பட்டதாவும் அறிவிக்கப்பட்டது.

உலகின் மிகப் பழைமை வாய்ந்த ஜப்பான் அரச பரம்பரையில், பதவியில் இருக்கும்போதே அரசர் ஒருவர் தனது பட்டத்தைத் துறப்பது 200 ஆண்டுகளுக்குப் பிறகு இதுவே முதல் முறை ஆகும்.

தலைநகர் டோக்கியோவில் உள்ள அரச மாளிகையில், அரச பதவி துறப்பதற்கான சடங்கள் செவ்வாய்க்கிழமை விமரிசையாக நடைபெற்றன.

தனது பிரிவுரையின்போது, ஜப்பான் மக்களுக்கு இதயப்பூர்வமான நன்றிகளைத் தெரிவித்துக் கொள்வதாக அகிஹிடோ தெரிவித்தார்.

அவருக்குப் பதிலாக, அவரது 59 வயது மகனும், பட்டத்து இளவரசருமான நருஹிடோ ஜப்பானின் அடுத்த அரசராக இன்று முடிசூட்டிக் கொண்டார்.

புதிய மன்னர் முடிசூட்டும் விழாவுக்கான ஏற்பாடுகள் படு வேகமாக நடைபெற்று வந்தது.

இந்நிலையில், இன்று டோக்கியோ இம்பீரியல் அரண்மனையில் 126வது ஜப்பான் மன்னராக நருஹிட்டோ அரச முறைப்படி பதவியேற்றார்.

புதிய மன்னராக நருஹிட்டோ பதவியேற்பை முன்னிட்டு அந்நாட்டில் 10 நாட்களுக்கு பொதுவிடுமுறை அறிவிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

மே 1ம் தேதி மாலைக்குப் பிறகு பாதையை மாற்றும் ஃபானி புயல்: 4 மாநிலங்களுக்கு எச்சரிக்கை

By ENS | Published on : 30th April 2019 03:00 PM

வங்கக் கடலில் உருவாகி திங்கட்கிழமை மாலை அதி தீவிர புயலாக மாறிய ஃபானி புயல், அடுத்த 24 மணி நேரத்தில் மிக அதித்தீவிரப் புயலாகவும், அதன்பிறகு 24 மணி நேரத்தில் மிக மிக அதித்தீவிரப் புயலாகவும் உருமாற உள்ளது.

இது தற்போதைய நிலவரப்படி ஒடிஸா கடற்கரையை நோக்கி நகரும் என்று இந்திய வானிலை ஆய்வு மையம் கணித்துள்ளது. இது புதன்கிழமையன்று மிக மிக அதித்தீவிரப் புயலாக மாறவிருப்பதால் கடற்கரையோர மாநிலங்களுக்கு தேசிய பேரிடர் மேலாண்மைப் படையினர் வரவழைக்கப்பட்டு, இந்திய கடலோரப் பாதுகாப்புப் படையினர் தீவிரக் கண்காணிப்பில் வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.


தென்கிழக்கு வங்கக் கடலில் நிலை கொண்டிருக்கும் ஃபானி புயலானது வடக்கு - வடமேற்காக கடந்த 6 மணி நேரமாக மணிக்கு 16 கிலோ மீட்டர் வேகத்தில் நகர்ந்து வருகிறது.

நாளை அதாவது மே 1ம் தேதி மாலைக்குப் பிறகு இது தனது பாதையை மாற்றுகிறது. அதாவது தற்போது வடக்கு - வடமேற்காக நகர்ந்து வரும் நிலையில் நாளை மாலைக்குப் பிறகு வடக்கு - வடகிழக்காக தனது பாதையை ஒடிஸா கடற்கரை நோக்கி மாற்ற உள்ளது.

இந்த புயல் சின்னத்தால் ஆந்திராவின் கடற்கரைப் பகுதிகளிலும், தெற்கு ஒடிசாவின் கடற்கரைப் பகுதிகளிலும் வியாழக்கிழமை கன மழை பெய்யும் என்றும் எச்சரிக்கை விடுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. அதே போல, ஆந்திராவின் வடகடற்கரைப் பகுததிகளில் கன மழை முதல் மிகக் கன மழை பெய்யும் என்றும் அறிவுறுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது.

ஃபானி புயல் கடந்து செல்லும் கடற்கரைப் பகுதியில் அமைந்திருக்கும் தமிழகம், ஆந்திரா, ஒடிசா மற்றும் மேற்கு வங்கத்தில் உரிய முன்னெச்சரிக்கை நடவடிக்கைகள் எடுக்கும்படி மாநில அரசுகளுக்கு இந்திய வானிலை ஆய்வு மையம் அறிவுறுத்தியுள்ளது.

இந்த ஃபானி புயலானது மே 3ம் தேதி ஒடிஸாவில் கரையைக் கடக்க வாய்ப்பு இருப்பதாகவும் கணிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

விக்கிரவாண்டி அரசு பள்ளியின் தலைமை ஆசிரியர் 'சஸ்பெண்ட்'

Added : மே 01, 2019 00:08 

விழுப்புரம் : விக்கிரவாண்டி, அரசு பள்ளி தலைமை ஆசிரியர், தற்காலிக பணி நீக்கம் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளார்.விழுப்புரம் மாவட்டம், விக்கிரவாண்டி அரசு மேல்நிலைப் பள்ளி தலைமை ஆசிரியர் குமாரகிருஷ்ணன். இவர், அரசு அனுமதியின்றி தனி நபர்களிடம் மாதாந்திர ஏலச் சீட்டு நடத்தி வந்துள்ளார்.இந்நிலையில், பணம், கொடுங்கல் வாங்கல் தொடர்பான பிரச்னை உள்ளதாக, அவர் மீது பள்ளிக் கல்வித்துறை அதிகாரிகளுக்கு புகார் அனுப்பப்பட்டுள்ளது.இந்த புகார் மீது, பள்ளிக் கல்வித்துறை இயக்குநர் அலுவலக உத்தரவின் படி, துறை ரீதியாக விசாரணை மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்டது.

அதில், அவர் மீதான புகார் உறுதிசெய்யப்பட்டது.இதையடுத்து, அவரை தற்காலிக பணி நீக்கம் செய்து, பள்ளி கல்வித் துறை செயலர் உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளார். அவர், நேற்றுடன், பணி ஓய்வு பெற இருந்தார். அவரது பணி ஓய்வு உத்தரவு, தற்காலிகமாக நிறுத்தி வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. ஒழுங்கு நடவடிக்கை திருக்கோவிலுார், கபிலர் அரசு மேல்நிலைப் பள்ளியின் தலைமை ஆசிரியர், ராஜா. இவர், பள்ளி மாணவர்களிடம் முறைகேடாக பணம் வசூலித்ததாக, புகார் எழுந்துள்ளது.இது குறித்து உரிய விளக்கம் அளிக்குமாறு, அவருக்கு, பள்ளிக் கல்வித் துறை அலுவலகம் நோட்டீஸ் அனுப்பி உள்ளது. அவர் அளிக்கும் விளக்கத்தின் அடிப்படையில், மேல்நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப்பட உள்ளது.

மருத்துவம்: 76 இடங்கள் காலி

Added : மே 01, 2019 02:17

சென்னை : அரசு மருத்துவ கல்லுாரிகளில் எம்.டி. - எம்.எஸ். பட்ட மேற்படிப்புகளுக்கு 1761 இடங்கள் உள்ளன. இதில் அகில இந்திய ஒதுக்கீட்டுக்கான இடங்கள் போக 1093 இடங்களுக்கான 2 கட்ட கவுன்சிலிங் நடந்து முடிந்துள்ளது.இதில் 'நான் கிளினிக்கல்' எனப்படும் மயக்கவியல் உடற்கூறியல் போன்ற படிப்புக்கான 76 இடங்கள் நிரம்பாமல் உள்ளன. இவற்றில் அரசு கல்லுாரிகளில் ஆறு இடங்கள்; தனியார் கல்லுாரிகளில் அரசு ஒதுக்கீட்டில் 36 இடங்கள்; நிர்வாக ஒதுக்கீட்டில் 34 இடங்கள் நிரம்பாமல் உள்ளன.

சீசன் நேரத்திலும் வெறிச்சோடிய தேக்கடி

Added : ஏப் 30, 2019 23:53



கூடலுார் : சீசன் நேரத்திலும் சுற்றுலா பயணிகள் வருகை குறைந்து தேக்கடி வெறிச்சோடி காணப்படுகிறது.கேரளாவில் உள்ள முக்கிய சுற்றுலா தலங்களில் தேக்கடியும் ஒன்றாகும். ஏரியில் படகு சவாரி செய்து கொண்டே வனவிலங்குகளை கண்டு ரசிப்பது தனிச்சிறப்பாகும். ஆண்டுதோறும் ஏப்., மே மாதத்தில் பள்ளி கோடை விடுமுறை காரணமாக ஏராளமானோர் சுற்றுலா வருவர். ஆனால் இந்த ஆண்டு ஏப்ரல் மாதத்தில் தமிழகத்தில் தேர்தல் நடந்ததால் பயணிகள் வருகை குறைந்தது.

தேர்தல் முடிந்தபின்பும் வருகை இல்லை.சுற்றுலா பயணி ஒருவர் கூறும்போது, தேக்கடியில் நுழைவுக்கட்டணம் ரூ.45 ஆகவும், படகு சவாரிக்கான கட்டணம் ரூ.255 ஆகவும் சமீபத்தில் உயர்த்தப்பட்டுள்ளது. இருப்பினும் சிறிது துாரம் மட்டும் சென்றுவிட்டு 45 நிமிடத்தில் இறக்கி விட்டு விடுகின்றனர். இதனால் பயணிகள் பலர் மற்ற சுற்றுலா தலங்களுக்கு செல்ல துவங்கி விட்டனர்', என்றார்.

புதுச்சேரி நன்றாக இருக்க வாழ்த்துகிறேன்

Added : மே 01, 2019 00:48

கவர்னர் கிரண்பேடி கருத்து

புதுச்சேரி:'புதுச்சேரி நன்றாக இருக்க வாழ்த்துகிறேன்' என, அவருக்கான அதிகாரம் ரத்து செய்யப்பட்டது குறித்து, கவர்னர் கிரண்பேடி கருத்து தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

புதுச்சேரி அரசின் நடவடிக்கைகளில் தலையிட, கவர்னர் கிரண்பேடிக்கு மத்திய உள்துறை அமைச்சகம் வழங்கிய அதிகாரத்தை மதுரை ஐகோர்ட் கிளை நேற்று ரத்து செய்தது. இது தொடர்பாக, சமூக வலைதளத்தில் அவர் பதிவு செய்துள்ள கருத்தில், 'நீதிமன்றம் அளித்துள்ள தீர்ப்பை ஆய்வு செய்து வருகிறோம். அதன் பிறகே இது தொடர்பாக தெளிவான பார்வையை தெரிவிக்க முடியும். தேர்தல் நடத்தை விதிமுறைகள் தற்போதும் அமலில்தான் உள்ளது. கவர்னர் மாளிகைக்கு வழக்கல்போல் வரும் கோப்புகளை ஆய்வு செய்து அனுமதி அளிக்கப்பட்டு வருகிறது. முக்கியமாக, பதவி உயர்வு, நியமனங்கள், ஒழுங்கு நடவடிக்கைகள், நிதி உள்ளிட்ட கோப்புகள் ஏற்கனவே உள்ள நடைமுறைப்படி ஆய்வு செய்து அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.புதுச்சேரி நன்றாக இருக்க நான் வாழ்த்துகிறேன். புதுச்சேரியில் உள்ள அனைத்து மக்களும் விரைவாக முடிவெடுக்க கூடிய ஆளுமை திறன் திறன் கொண்டவர்கள். யூனியன் பிரதேசமான புதுச்சேரியில் முழுமையாகவும், நேர்மையாகவும், பொறுப்புடனும் நிதி மேலாண்மையில் கவனமாக இருக்க வேண்டும். மக்களுக்கு சிறந்த நிர்வாகம் கிடைக்க வேண்டும்' என, தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

ஓமலூர், மேச்சேரியில் சூறாவளி காற்றுடன் பலத்த மழை கோழிப்பண்ணைகள், வீடுகள் சேதம்

ஓமலூர், மேச்சேரி பகுதிகளில் சூறாவளி காற்றுடன் பலத்த மழை பெய்தது. காற்றினால் மேற்கூரைகள் பறந்ததால், கோழிப்பண்ணைகள், வீடுகள் சேதம் அடைந்தன.

பதிவு: மே 01, 2019 04:01 AM

ஓமலூர்,

ஓமலூர் மற்றும் அதன் சுற்றுப்புறப்பகுதிகளான உ.மாரமங்கலம், பஞ்சுகாளிப்பட்டி, மேல்காளிப்பட்டி, அழகனம்பட்டி உள்ளிட்ட ஓமலூர் மற்றும் காடையாம்பட்டி வட்டாரத்தில் நேற்று முன்தினம் இரவு பலத்த சூறாவளி காற்றுடன் மழை பெய்தது. காற்றுக்கு தாக்குப்பிடிக்க முடியாமல் பஞ்சுகாளிப்பட்டி, மேல்காளிப்பட்டி, அழகனம்பட்டி உள்ளிட்ட இடங்களில் வீட்டின் மேற்கூரைகள், ராட்சத விளம்பர பலகைகள் பறந்தன. மேலும் அழகனம்பட்டி பகுதியில் உள்ள கூட்டுறவு பால் உற்பத்தியாளர் சங்க கட்டிடம், அதே பகுதியை சேர்ந்த ராஜசேகர் என்பவரது வீட்டின் மேற்கூரையும் தூக்கி வீசப்பட்டது. மேல்காளிப்பட்டி பகுதியில் விவசாயி பூபதி என்பவர் 230 அடி நீளத்தில் 5 ஆயிரம் கோழிகள் வளர்க்கும் வகையில் பண்ணை அமைத்து இருந்தார். மேற்கூரை ஓடுகளால் அமைக்கப்பட்டிருந்தது. அதில் இருந்த கோழிகளை விற்று விட்ட பூபதி, மீண்டும் கோழிகளை வளர்க்க ஏற்பாடு செய்து வைத்திருந்தார்.

இந்த நிலையில் நேற்று முன்தினம் வீசிய சூறாவளி காற்றுக்கு கோழிப்பண்ணை இடிந்து தரைமட்டமானது. மேலும் அதே பகுதியில் ஜெகநாதன் என்பவருக்கு சொந்தமான கோழிப்பண்ணையும் இடிந்து சேதம் அடைந்தது. முத்து என்பவரது தறிக்கூடத்தின் மேற்கூரையும் காற்றில் பறந்தது. அதே பகுதியில் சந்திரன், தங்கமணி, ஆகியோரது வீடுகள் உள்பட 10-க்கும் மேற்பட்ட வீடுகள், கடைகளின் மேற்கூரைகள் தூக்கி வீசப்பட்டன. இதில் மேற்கூரை விழுந்ததில் தங்கமணியின் மனைவி மலர்கொடி படுகாயம் அடைந்தார். அவர் சிகிச்சைக்காக ஓமலூர் அரசு ஆஸ்பத்திரியில் சேர்க்கப்பட்டார். அங்கு அவருக்கு சிகிச்சை அளிக்கப்பட்டு வருகிறது.

மேலும் பழமையான வேப்ப மரம், கொன்றை மரங்களும் வேரோடு சாய்ந்தன. பஞ்சுகாளிப்பட்டி பகுதியில் மின் கம்பம் மற்றும் கொன்றை மரம் வீட்டின் மீது சாய்ந்தது. இதில் வீட்டில் இருந்தவர்கள் காயமின்றி உயிர் தப்பித்தனர். இந்த சூறாவளி காற்றுக்கு பல லட்ச ரூபாய் மதிப்பிலான பொருட்கள் சேதமடைந்துள்ளதாகவும், இதற்கு அரசு உரிய இழப்பீடு வழங்கவேண்டும் எனவும் பாதிக்கப்பட்டவர்கள் கோரிக்கை விடுத்துள்ளனர்.

இதே போல மேச்சேரி மற்றும் அதன் சுற்றுப்புற பகுதிகளில் நேற்று முன்தினம் இரவு சூறாவளி காற்றுடன் மழை பெய்தது.

இதில் ஓலைப்பட்டி ஊராட்சிக்குட்பட்ட சிந்தாமணியூர் காட்டுவளவு பகுதியை சேர்ந்த மாரியப்பன் என்பவருக்கு சொந்தமான நெசவு கூடம், வீடு ஆகியவை இடிந்து சேதம் அடைந்தன. மேலும் ஜெகநாதன் என்பவரின் ஓட்டு வீடு, நவகோட்டி என்பவரின் நெசவுக்கூடம் ஆகியவைகளின் மேற்கூரைகள் காற்றில் பறந்தன. வடிவேலு, செல்வம், நேதாஜி ஆகியோரது வீடுகளின் மேற்கூரைகள் காற்றில் பறந்தன. பச்சியப்பன் என்பவரின் மாட்டுக்கொட்டை இடிந்து விழுந்தது. இதே போல பல்வேறு இடங்களில் 10-க்கும் மேற்பட்ட வீடுகளின் மேற்கூரைகள் காற்றில் பறந்ததால், வீடுகளும் சேதம் அடைந்தன.

Principal’s appointment: Court stays DVAC probe

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | J STALIN

PublishedMay 1, 2019, 5:40 am IST

The order passed by the interim administrator shall be subject to the result of the intra court appeals”, the bench added.

Madras high court

Chennai: Declining to stay a portion of the order of a single judge, which quashed the appointment of N.Shettu as principal of Pachaiyappas College for Men in the city, the Madras high court has stayed the remaining portions of the order.

Passing interim orders on an appeal filed by Shettu, a division bench comprising Justices K. K. Sasidharan and RMT. Teeka Raman said, “We are informed that pursuant to the order dated April 24 (of the single judge), which is impugned before us, Justice P.Shanmugam, former judge, Madras high court, who was appointed as the Interim Administrator, passed an order dated April 26, 2019, reverting the appellant from the post of Principal and giving charge to P. Arulmozhichelvan, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Physics, being the senior most Professor. In view of the said order, there is no question of staying the order passed by the single judge (quashing the appointment of Shettu). Similar is the case of the order relating to the circular challenged before the single judge”.

The bench said senior counsel Sathish Parasaran submitted that unless there is a regular principal, the university would not approve the admission of students. “We make it clear that the professor and head of the department, department of physics, appointed by the interim administrator as principal-in-charge, would be deemed to be the principal, for all purposes relating to education and he should be considered as the principal by the university and the government for the time being. We also make it clear that no equity or right would accrue to any of the parties on account of the order passed by the Interim Administrator, dated April 26. The order passed by the interim administrator shall be subject to the result of the intra court appeals”, the bench added.

The bench however stayed until further orders the order of the single judge, declaring as null and void, the process of selection conducted by the Pachiayappas Trust Board through its selection committee and college committee.

The bench also stayed the direction of the single judge to the interim administrator to conduct a fresh selection for appointments/promotions to the post of principal for all the colleges by strictly following the statutes/rules and the University Grants Commission regulations.

The bench also stayed the order of the single judge, which directed the Interim Administrator to look into the complaints in respect of corrupt activities in the process of selection and file appropriate complaint before the Director of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, who in turn, shall probe the issues in relation to the corrupt activities in the process of selection, with reference to the competent educational authorities, and the University and initiate all appropriate actions.

The bench said the appointment of the appellant as the principal of Pachaiyappa’s College was put in issue before the single judge at the instance of R. Nanthini and 6 others. They have taken up a specific contention that the very selection was contrary to Rule 11 (4) of the Private College Regulations Act, which provides for taking various colleges under the educational agency as one unit. The single judge accepted the said contention and set aside the selection. Even though there were no materials produced before the single judge for a probe by the Vigilance and Anti Corruption, still such a direction was issued to the Interim Administrator. In fact, there was no specific prayer at the instance of the petitioners for a direction to the Vigilance and Anti Corruption department to enquire into the very process of selection, to unearth the element of corruption, the bench pointed out and posted to June 17, further hearing of the case.

Tirumala braces for severe drinking water shortage

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | AVINASH P. SUBRAMANYAM

PublishedMay 1, 2019, 6:22 am IST

In Pasupudhara, 593 lakh gallons of water is stored as against its full capacity to store 1,276 lakh gallons.

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD)

Tirupati: Severe shortage of drinking water poses a potential threat to the temple town of Tirumala with the waning of water reserves and the failure of the monsoon.

The circumstances are so grave that the water accessible in all the five dams at Tirumala is probably going to last just for 127 days, if the water is pumped at the rate of 40.3 lakh gallons every day approximately. The temple town’s daily requirement is put at around 32 to 35 lakh gallons and on weekends, when the devotee rush is high, the hill shrine requires 35 to 40 lakh gallons of water.

At present the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which hosts 75,000 to 80,000 devotees on normal days and over 1 lakh on weekends, has been drawing 40 per cent of the total required water every day from the Papavinasanam dam, which is the biggest water source for Tirumala.

And, the balance requirement is being supplemented through the water drawn from the remaining dams including Kumaradhara and Pasupudhara twin dams, Gogarbham and Akasaganga dams, which were situated in and around the hill shrine.

According to official data, as on April 28, the water levels in all the five dams in and around Tirumala had plummeted, with the total available water close to 5,229 lakh gallons as against the full capacity of 13,880 lakh gallons.

The water stored in Papavinasanam was measured as 2,055 lakh gallons as against its full capacity of 5,215 lakh gallons, while Kumaradhara dam has 2,412 lakh gallons of water as against its full capacity of 4,036 lakh gallons.

The water level in Akasaganga dam has touched rock bottom as against its full capacity to store 670 lakh gallons, while the Gogarbham dam, which earlier used to be the only source of drinking water to Tirumala, has 169 lakh gallons of water as against its full capacity of 2,683 lakh gallons.

In Pasupudhara, 593 lakh gallons of water is stored as against its full capacity to store 1,276 lakh gallons. The officials are saying that under the prevailing situation, the total quantity of water will last to meet the drinking water needs of pilgrims for 127 days only.

Meanwhile, TTD has been resting its hopes on the Kalyani dam, from where the temple authority draws water during acute shortage at Tirumala. Kalyani dam is the prime source of drinking water of Tirupati.

It was learnt that in all likelihood, TTD will pump 20 lakh gallons of water to cater the needs of inbound pilgrims at Tirumala during this summer. But, a severe shortage of water also looms large over the Kalyani dam, which is believed to be having sufficient water only for six months.

If there is any excess drawing at this dam, it may further lead in multiplying the difficulties, it is felt.

Can’t interfere in day-to-day affairs, Madras High Court tells Lt Governor

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | J STALIN

Published   May 1, 2019, 2:18 am IST

''The weekly disposal is also placed on record as was the earlier practice”, Bedi said in a statement to the media.

Kiran Bedi

Chennai: The Madras high court on Tuesday held that Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi ‘cannot interfere’ in the day-to-day affairs of the elected government in the Union Territory as it represents the will of the people.

“The decision taken by the Council of Ministers and the Chief Minister is binding on the Secretaries and other officials”, Justice R Mahadevan held in allowing a petition by Congress legislator K Lakshminarayanan representing (ironically) the Raj Bhavan constituency, who complained that Bedi “runs a parallel and diametrically opposite government within the government” while holding meetings directly with the secretaries and other officials, and issuing orders.

Setting aside two communications issued in January and June, 2017, by the Union Home Ministry “elevating” the power of the administrator (Lt Governor), Justice Mahadevan said, “The Central Government as well as the Administrator should be true to the concept of democratic principles. Otherwise, the Constitutional Scheme of the country of being democratic and republic would be defeated”.

“The Administrator has no exclusive authority to run the administration in derogation of the Constitutional principles and the Parliamentary laws governing the issue”, said the judge, adding, “Notable and appreciable is the action of the Central Government to re-delegate further powers to the Council of Ministers in the communication dated 27.09.2018”.

Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, who has been at loggerheads with Bedi over several issues, hailed the HC verdict as “historic and victory of democracy” in as much as it “stated unequivocally that Kiran Bedi does not have independent powers and she must work in tandem with the elected government in administrative and service matters, financial aspect of governance.”

Responding in guarded manner while giving enough hints there would be an appeal to the Supreme Court, Bedi said, “We are examining the judgment, after which we shall take a view. Meanwhile, we are still in the Model Code of Conduct of Elections period. Files which require Lt Governor's approval such as service matters, of promotions, appointments, disciplinary matters and financial sanctions for Grants in Aid are being received and being examined and cleared on merits of each case. The weekly disposal is also placed on record as was the earlier practice”, Bedi said in a statement to the media.

Elaborating on her selfless motive in insisting on being in the driver's seat rather than just a rubber stamp, she said, “I wish Puducherry well. Its people deserve the best. The UT needs utmost integrity, accountability and careful financial management to save it from running into a debt trap. Most of the people of Puducherry deserve quick decision- making with accessible governance”.

In arriving at his conclusion favouring the petitioner, Justice Mahadevan referred to the Supreme Court verdict on the tussle between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lt Governor Anil Baijail, and said restrictions imposed on the Government of Delhi are not applicable to the Government of Puducherry. “The apex court has clearly held that there is a distinction between the National Capital Territory of Delhi and Puducherry”, he said, adding that though Puducherry is not a state, its Legislative Assembly would have the same powers as that of a state.

Senior lawyer P Chidambaram represented petitioner Lakshminarayanan, who submitted that there are political differences between the elected Government of Puducherry and the Centre. “She (Bedi) conducts review meetings with the officials directly, by-passing the elected government, carries out inspections and issues on-the-spot orders and thereby runs a parallel and diametrically opposite government within the government”, he said while alleging that Bedi interfered in the day-to-day administration of the territorial government, its policies and programmes.

The judge observed that the court had already discussed the role of secretaries. They normally act only as a medium of communication, utmost to render their opinion at circumstances and have no power or authority to override the decisions of the Council. “Though they may report to the Administrator nominated by the President, still they cannot shed their duty to the decision of the Council of Ministers taken as per the procedure laid down in the Government of Union Territories Act and the Rules of Business of the Government of Pondicherry, 1963”, said Justice Mahadevan, adding that the secretaries “cannot jump the gun and run a parallel Government under the directions of the Administrator”.

The judge also pointed out that the elected representatives of the government play a major role in decision making, or else, there would be no purpose in having an elected government, who are the true representatives of the people.

“The elected government functioning through the Council of Ministers cannot be defeated by the act of the Administrator, who is also functioning under the provisions of the Constitution, by way of interfering in the day to day affairs of the Government”, he said.

Alluding to the petitioner's complaint that Bedi was using the social media to summon officials, the Judge said, “The Government officials cannot use their personal media to address the grievances of the public. A public redressal forum in the form of official e-mails, telephone numbers are to be circulated and used, if already not put into use.”

Madras HC curbs Lt. Governor's powers, says Kiran Bedi can't interfere in Puducherry government's everyday affairs

The court said the administrative and financial powers are with the elected government and the Lt.Governor has to act as per the advice of the council of Ministers.

Published: 30th April 2019 01:00 PM 

Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi (File | EPS)

By Siva Sekaran

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Holding that the Council of Ministers is the supreme body, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Tuesday clipped the extra powers granted to Lieutenant-Governor Kiran Bedi by the Centre. The court’s decision has come as a big boost for the Puducherry government, which has been at loggerheads with Bedi over a wide range of administrative issues.

“The Administrator cannot interfere in the day-to-day affairs of the government. The decision taken by the Council of Ministers and the Chief Minister is binding on the secretaries and other officials. The Centre as well as the Administrator should be true to the concept of democratic principles,” the bench said. “Otherwise, the country’s Constitutional scheme of being democratic and republic would be defeated.”

Justice R Mahadevan further added: “The Administrator (L-G) has no exclusive authority to run the administration in derogation of the constitutional principles and the parliamentary laws governing the issue.” The judge was allowing a writ petition from K Lakshminarayanan, Puducherry MLA and also parliamentary secretary to the Chief Minister, who is directly in charge of the relationship between the Union Territory and the Centre.


He sought to quash the two communications from the Home Ministry, which had allegedly granted more powers to L-G. The judge held that the Union Territory of Puducherry had legislative powers to enact laws with respect to all matters enumerated in the State and Concurrent Lists as per the Constitution.

‘Difference can be referred to Prez, Centre’

The Puducherry legislative body enjoys power similar to that of a ‘State’ and the authority of the Administrator remains intact with regard to exercise of discretion under certain circumstances when the Assembly is not functioning or when a reference is bonafide required.The Administrator is bound by the advice of the Council of Ministers in matters where the Assembly is competent to enact laws though he/she is empowered to differ with the Council based on some rationale which raises a fundamental issue regarding the action of government.

A legitimate and warranted policy decision of the Council after deliberation is expected not to be interfered with... The scope of such difference can utmost end only in a reference to the President or the Central government, and by no stretch of imagination or interpretation, the provisions enable the Administrator to reject any Bill, the judge said.Administrator can do posting of officers under IAS in consonance with Article 320 of the Constitution, the judge said.

‘Studying verdict’

Lt Governor said the judgement was being examined, following which a view would be taken. Bedi also cited an earlier judgment of the Madras HC and said “L-G of the UT has powers to act independently”

CM Happy

Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Tuesday said the judgement was a victory for the people of the Union Territory (UT)

Vacancy for junior research fellow
The three-year project is being funded by the Department of Science and Technology , Government of India.

Published: 30th April 2019 03:24 AM 

By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Vacancy for a junior research fellow is available for a research project ‘Taxonomic studies on Cyprinoid fishes of northern Kerala with emphasis on synonymic and insufficiently-known species’.


The three-year project is being funded by the Department of Science and Technology , Government of India. Qualification required is MSc Zoology and NET or MPhil. The interview will be held on Thursday at Baby John Memorial Government College. For details, contact Mathew Plamootil. Phone no: 9447059690

Jet, Etihad ordered to pay Rs 1.25 lakh for misplacing woman’s luggage

Jayanthi Rajvi, the woman, had flown to Zurich in Switzerland for quick getaway.

Published: 29th April 2019 08:03 AM |

Etihad had identified that over 95 single-use plastic products were being used across its aircraft cabins.

By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: INDIA’S oldest private airline, Jet Airways, has been going through a rather harrowing year. Due to mounting debt, the airline had recently even released a statement that they have now run out of money to continue operations.

The troubles don’t seem to end there. The airlines, and its partner airlines Etihad, was recently sued by a city-based businesswoman for misplacing her luggage. The district consumer forum slapped a fine of `1.25 lakh on the carrier for failing to deliver the luggage at the destination.

Jayanthi Rajvi, the woman, had flown to Zurich in Switzerland for quick getaway. However, once she arrived in the country, she found that her bags weren’t there. She waited for two hours for luggage that never came. She later complained with Etihad Airways but the response she got was unsatisfactory.

Rajvi did not get anything but 35 Swiss Franc for expenses. Since she had none of the clothes she had packed for her six-day stay, she depended on her friend’s wardrobe, Rajvi told the forum. It was only after the vacation had ended, and when she came back to Hyderabad, that Rajvi was given her luggage back.

Meanwhile, the airlines said that the passenger had not performed a valuation of the luggage.

Representatives of Etihad argued they gave 35 Franc as mandated by the Montreal Convention since no valuation figure was provided. Jet Airways also said Rajvi could have fraudulently transferred the contents beforehand. However, barring all allegation, Consumer Forum - 3 said there was deficiency in service. It ordered the airlines to pay $1,500 at `69.85 per US Dollar and another `20,000 towards court charges.

Foreigners Regional Registration Office: 801 foreigners overstaying in Bengaluru
According to the city police commissioner, as many as 801 foreigners are overstaying in Bengaluru city and Bengaluru rural district.

Published: 01st May 2019 06:49 AM |

By Express News Service

BENGALURU: According to the city police commissioner, as many as 801 foreigners are overstaying in Bengaluru city and Bengaluru rural district. The police commissioner informed Karnataka High Court after receiving statistics from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO).

The FRRO informed the police commissioner that proposals for Lookout Circular (LOC) has been issued. Leave India Notices have also been issued to overstaying foreigners. "Every month jurisdictional police is informed of the list of overstaying foreign nationals in their respective jurisdiction, with information to the police commissioner, Bengaluru city, concerned DCPs and Superintendent of Police of respective districts," the police commissioner stated in the information furnished to the court, and also pointed out that 57 foreigners are untraceable.

This information was furnished by FRRO after Justice Aravind Kumar directed the state to furnish the details of those persons who have stayed on either student visa or other visas, and have not returned to their respective countries even after the visa expired. The court had issued this direction after hearing the petition filed by Hossie Bikandou Sidney. He accused the police of being falsely implicated in the case. He said there was an inordinate delay in the trial. Meanwhile, Sidney will return to his native, Congo on May 7. The court also quashed the criminal proceedings against him who has paid a fine Rs 28,000.

Madras High Court summer vacation from tomorrow

The summer vacation for the Madras High Court and its bench at Madurai will begin on May 1.

Published: 30th April 2019 05:39 AM

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: The summer vacation for the Madras High Court and its bench at Madurai will begin on May 1. It will re-open on June 3 (Monday). Following are the vacation judges for the principal seat at Chennai: Justices S Vaidyanathan, Subramonium Prasad, N Anand Venkatesh and G K Ilanthiraiyan will sit on May 8 and 9.


Justices C V Karthikeyan, Krishnan Ramaswamy, V Bhavani Subbaroyan and A D Jagadish Chandira on May 15 and 16. Justices RMT Teekka Raman, P D Audikesavalu, P Rajamanickam and C Saravanan on May 22 and 23. For the last part of the vacation, that is, on May 29 and 30, Justices N Sathish Kumar, P T Asha, M Nirmal Kumar and Senthikumar Ramamoorthy will be the vacation judges.

Government doctors to hold demonstrations in June over NEET, PG quota issues

Seek to restore 50% reservation for government service doctors in PG medical admissions

Published: 01st May 2019 06:11 AM

By Sinduja Jane

Express News Service

CHENNAI : Come June, government service doctors may stage series of demonstrations, urging the State government to abolish UG-NEET for MBBS and BDS admissions and also restore 50 per cent reservation for government service doctors in PG medical admissions, after only 43 per cent of medical seats were allotted to the service doctors in the first phase of PG medical counselling this year.

According to the selection committee, “In the first phase of counselling, in all, 999 PG (MD and MS) seats were allotted for government and self-financing colleges; 427 seats were allotted to government service doctors and 572 for non-service doctors. That is, 43 per cent seats were allotted to government service doctors and 57 per cent seats to non-service doctors.

This has disappointed government service doctors. “We will hold various demonstrations from June after our executive council meeting. In the 43 per cent of seats, many government service doctors could get only non-clinical seats and majority of clinical seats went to non-service doctors. If this is the case, then there will be shortage of specialists in public healthcare system, which is already facing shortage of specialities,” said Dr J Kathirvel, secretary, Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association.


“We seek fulfilment of three demands: Abolition of UG-NEET, restoration of 50 per cent reservation for government service doctors and reservation for service doctors in higher specialities,” added Kathirvel.

In 2017-2018, PG medical course admissions were conducted based on the Medical Council of India’s Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations 2000, and State’s reservation rules were quashed.

However, the non-service government doctors were happy that the State followed MCI rules properly this year. Dr N Karthikeyan, secretary, Non-Governmental Service Doctors Association, said, “We are happy that non-service doctors could get more seats this year. This is how counselling was conducted in other States, but only in Tamil Nadu, the MCI norms were not followed properly in the last two years. The merit has been upheld this time.”

TCS-JSS Tech varsity to offer new course

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

MYSURU, MAY 01, 2019 00:00 IST

Students will be exposed to emerging topics such as Analytics, Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence

To address the growing need of engineering talent with skills in digital technology, TCS has designed a curriculum for a 4-year undergraduate programme titled “Computer Science and Business Systems (CSBS)”.

JSS Science and Technology University (formerly SJCE) is the first deemed-to-be-university in Karnataka to offer this course from the year 2019-20.

JSS Science and Technology Universityon Tuesday signed an MoU with TCS to offer the programme to the students in the upcoming batch. The MoU was signed by Registrar, JSS Science and Technology University and Chandra Koduru, Head of Academic Interface Programme of TCS.

The curriculum aims to ensure that the students not only know the core topics of Computer Science but also develop an equal appreciation of humanities, management sciences and human values, according to the university.

The students are exposed to emerging topics such as Analytics, Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, Internet of Things (IoT), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make them industry ready at the end of four years of study. This curriculum has been approved by the Executive Committee of AICTE and is available in the AICTE drop-down menu of nomenclatures for engineering course.

As part of the MoU, TCS will support JSS Science and Technology University by training and developing its faculty, and organising guest lectures.

Tejas Express chugs on with teething problems

S. Sundar

MADURAI, MAY 01, 2019 00:00 IST

A view of one of the coaches of Tejas Express.G. 

MoorthyG_Moorthy

Swanky coaches, air-conditioned comfort make it a passenger’s dream train

After a long time since the launch of flagship trains of Madurai — Pandian Superfast Express and Vaigai Superfast Express — the Temple City got another Chennai-Madurai-Chennai train, Tejas Express, on March 1.

The service, with air-conditioned swanky coaches, was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself.

Touted to be the best in class in pampering the passengers with its facilities and comfort at a premium fare, the coaches made at Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, got the attraction they deserved.

The train that is operated on six days a week (expect on Thursdays) leaves Chennai at 6 a.m. and reaches Madurai at 12.30 p.m. with just two stoppages at Tiruchi and Kodai Road.

In return direction, it leaves at 3 p.m. and arrives Chennai Egmore at 9.30 p.m. On many days, the passengers say, it arrives the destination before time.

Arun Shankar, 52, a resident of Madurai, who has travelled twice in the train, says he would prefer Tejas to air journey as it gives more comfort at a fare that is cheaper than air fare.

“I bet the comfort of the two + two seating arrangement in executive class is as good as those in the business class in private aircraft,” he says.

Stating that most of his travels are planned at the last minute, he says that he gets an assured seat in executive class on any working day and hence, has become its fan. This businessman has introduced this train to many of his friends and relatives. Railway officials say that the train has become so popular that it runs packed on many days as the summer vacation has peaked. Only a handful of seats are available in both the classes.

Complaints galore

However, within less than two months after its launch, passengers are complaining about malfunctioning of various new facilities in the brand new coaches.

The major complaint is about the breaking down of scores of infotainment system.

The LED screens mounted on the back of seats play pre-loaded movies of different languages or songs. “This was boasted as the major attraction of the train. But, with over 200 LED screens not functioning, the passengers are targeting us,” says one the Travelling Ticket Examiner.

Some of the passengers are not willing to change their seat where the screens function.

“They want us to set right the defect in the screen on their seat,” one of the TTE says.

A group of eight passengers, who travelled from Chennai, are appreciative of the comfort of the seating facility in the train. However, D. Dharmarajan, 52, complains that many of the LED screens are not working. Though he is happy about the service, he feels the food on board is not up to his expectation.

Shanthi Gunasekaran, 56, complains about the choking of toilet.

“We left home at 4 a.m. to board the train at 6 a.m. And should we not get a clean toilet? This problem was there even when I travelled in the train on the second day of its launch,” she says. A sign board on how to use the toilet will help first-time passengers.

Mr. Arun Shankar suggests deployment of on-board cleaning staff to overcome the choking problems in toilets.

He also says that the food served should be fine tuned to meet the expectations of south Indians.

He also feels that Rs. 355 for food is on the higher side and suggests that the running time of the train, if cut by 30 minutes to one hour, will attract more passengers.

Vasuki Vaseegaran, 58, is of the view that employing on-board staff who are conversant in Tamil will help a lot of passengers. “The train runs only in Tamil Nadu and more importantly to and from Madurai. There is no need for all of the staff to speak only in Hindi,” she says.

A veena vidwan, A. Bhalaji, complains of lack of cooling effect in the air-conditioned coaches. “Since the atmospheric temperature has soared now, if the temperature inside the coach is brought down further, it will be more comfortable,” he says.

J. Johan William, 71, is not happy with the rude behaviour of the catering staff who refused to offer him tea as he had not opted for the food served in the coach. “When they are offering me a bottle of water, why should the railway not offer tea? I could have bought a tea, but the staff sounded very rude,” the senior citizen complains. The TTE did not give him a complaint book. “He said he did not have one,” Mr. William says.

Though a few passengers feel that their experience with Tejas is good, a railway source says that the automated doors in some of the coaches — C2, C3 and C4 — are not functioning. “With just a couple of minutes’ halt at Tiruchi and Kodai Road, the doors have to be opened for the passengers to get down and get in on time. Two additional employees have been nominated to open the door manually from outside,” the TTE says.

Otherwise, all the doors of the coaches are operated by the guard.

A few sliding coach doors and electronically-operated Venetian blinds are not working and get stuck in the middle.

Say Hello’ scheme a big hit among senior citizens

S.P. Saravanan

ERODE, MAY 01, 2019 00:00 IST

District police resolve 238 complaints received over phone

The district police have received 249 calls and resolved 238 of these under the “Say Hello” scheme that aims at resolving the problems of senior citizens and the public by receiving complaints over phone. Action is pending for 11 complaints.

The police launched the scheme in January this year through which elderly or affected persons can call the number 96558-88100 and register their complaints related to small disputes and altercations. The complaint is forwarded to the police station concerned for necessary action and the grievance is redressed. Officials said that issues between neighbours over compound wall, cutting trees, problem in fetching water from common tap w were sorted out with the intervention of the policemen at their doorsteps.

After launching the scheme, the police received 249 calls that were related to different kinds of problems - family dispute (69 calls), land dispute (27), burglary (5), altercations (27), cheating (17) and others (72 calls).

Further, a total of 32 calls were received appreciating the scheme.

Superintendent of Police S. Sakthi Ganesan said that calls were made by people of different age groups though majority were by the senior citizens - age group of 20 to 30 years – 11 calls, 31 to 40 years – 23 calls, 41 to 50 years – 20 calls, 51 to 60 years – 44 calls, 61 to 70 years – 76 calls, 71 to 80 calls – 61 calls and above 81 to 90 years – 14 calls. He said that 18 calls were also received from other districts, including Karur and Chennai (1 call each), Salem, Namakkal, the Nilgiris (each 2 calls), Coimbatore (4), Villupuram (1) and Tiruppur district (5 calls).

Those calls were related to family dispute, cheating over financial transactions and hence the complainants were asked to approach the police in their concerned districts.

Mr. Sakthi Ganesan said that most of the calls received comes under the jurisdictions of Erode North Police Station (27 calls), Erode South Police Station (26 calls) and Modakurichi Police Station (14 calls) action were taken accordingly. He requested the elderly people and affected people to contact the number and get their small issues sorted out.

Centre releases Rs. 58 cr. for colleges, varsities

R. Sujatha

CHENNAI, MAY 01, 2019 00:00 IST

Grant for infrastructure, research

The Human Resource Development Ministry has released Rs. 58.92 crore as part of grant to improve higher education institutions in the State.

The allocation is under Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan, which envisages improvement of infrastructure, faculty development, research and innovation and upgrade of degree colleges to model institutions.

Sixty per cent of the contribution comes from the Centre.

Institutions that have benefitted under the scheme include Tamil University of Thanjavur and the Physical Education and Sports University, which will receive Rs. 6 crore each for infrastructure improvement. Madurai Kamaraj University has been allocated Rs. 1.05 crore for faculty improvement; Bharathiar University, Annamalai University, Anna University, MKU, Bharathidasan University and University of Madras each have been sanctioned Rs. 4.50 crore towards entrepreneurship and career hub development.

The Government Arts College, Salem; Alagappa College, Karaikudi and Presidency College, Chennai, have each been given Rs. 60 lakh for infrastructure and colleges, including Quaid E Millath, Nandanam, Presidency, Dr. Ambedkar, Queen Mary’s and Bharathi Women’s College, Chennai, have been allocated funds to develop vocational education. Nineteen colleges, including Presidency College, have been allocated Rs. 10.50 lakh for vocationalisation of higher education.

The funds also include the third and final grant to improve infrastructure to Mother Teresa University Bharathiar University and Manonmaniam Sundaranar University.

According to a letter from the Principal Accounts Officer of the HRD Ministry, the State comes under General Category and the funds being released in the first instalment are for improving management, monitoring, evaluation and research component.

Mercury soars to 40.1 degree Celsius in Chennai

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, MAY 01, 2019 00:00 IST

Hottest day of the year so far in city

Chennaiites, who were expecting summer showers for the past few days, instead had to put up with scorching heat on Tuesday. It was the hottest day of the year as the mercury level soared to 40.1 degree Celsius.

This is the second time in the decade that the maximum temperature has crossed 40 degree Celsius in the city. Chennai had previously recorded 40.8 degree Celsius on April 23, 2016.

Though it was cloudy in the morning, the city sizzled in the grip of heatwave conditions as day temperature quickly climbed several notches above average temperature. The weather station in Meenambakkam too recorded 40.2 degree Celsius, which is nearly four degree Celsius above average.

High humidity

The relatively high humidity at 79% in Nungambakkam and 70% in Meenambakkam led to uncomfortable weather.

Places such as Vellore, Tiruttani and Tiruchi also witnessed scorching heat as the maximum temperature peaked beyond the 40-degree Celsius mark.

S. Balachandran, Deputy Director General of Meteorology, Chennai, said such variations in temperature occurred when weather systems were active in the Bay of Bengal. Cyclonic storm ‘Fani’ is likely to become extremely severe and cross the Odisha coast on May 3 afternoon. There may be a possibility of some rain over the State due to feeder bands of the weather system even though the storm has moved away from Tamil Nadu coast.

Dry westerlies

On the rise in day temperature, he said the maximum temperature in the city dropped after sometime on Tuesday. Such oscillation occurred when dry westerlies prevailed over the region.

The land breeze was strong on Tuesday and this was accentuated by the cyclonic storm ‘Fani’. This led to sudden spike in temperature.

However, moisture incursion caused by sea breeze brought down the temperature by afternoon.

Cloudy sky

Officials of the Meteorological Department said there may be chances of rain in one or two places of the State.

Chennai may have a cloudy sky and the maximum temperature may hover around 39 degree Celsius till Thursday.

Such variations in temperature occur when weather systems are active in the Bay of Bengal

S. BalachandranDeputy Director General of Meteorology, Chennai

Madras HC curbs L-G role in Puducherry

Mohamed Imranullah S.

CHENNAI, MAY 01, 2019 00:00 IST

Kiran Bedi

‘Amounts to running a parallel govt.’

The Madras High Court on Tuesday ruled that the Lieutenant-Governor (L-G)of Puducherry could not interfere with the day-to-day administration of the Union Territory when an elected government was in place. The court said incessant interference from the L-G would amount to running a “parallel government.”

Authoring a 150-page judgement, Justice R. Mahadevan said: “The Central government as well as the Administrator [the term used in the Constitution to refer to the Lieutenant-Governor] should be true to the concept of democratic principles. Otherwise, the constitutional scheme of the country of being democratic and republic would be defeated.”

The judge made it clear that government secretaries were bound to take instructions from the ministers concerned and the Council of Ministers, headed by the Chief Minister, besides reporting to them on official matters. “The secretaries are not empowered to issue orders on their own or upon the instructions of the Administrator,” Justice Mahadevan said.

Practice disapproved

He disapproved of the alleged practice of government officials being part of social media groups through which the L-G was issuing instructions to them for redress of public grievances and reminded them that as per rules, they were bound to use only authorised medium of communication when it came to issues related to administration.

The judgement was delivered while allowing a petition filed by Congress MLA K. Lakshminarayanan in 2017, and quashing two clarifications issued by the Union Home Ministry that year with regard to the powers of the L-G.

The judge held that those communications had been issued without reference to the constitutional provisions and other laws.

Though the Centre had primarily questioned the locus standi of the petitioner to file the case, the judge rejected the objections on the ground that such a writ petition at the instance of an MLA was maintainable.

In his judgment, Justice Mahadevan also went on to point out the differences between the powers conferred on the legislatures of Puducherry and Delhi under Articles 239A and 239AA of the Constitution.

The judge said though Article 239AA imposes several restrictions on the legislature of Delhi, no such restrictions had been imposed explicitly in the case of Puducherry under Article 239A.

“The above Article symbolises the supremacy of the Legislature above the Administrator in case of the Union Territory of Puducherry.”

BLDE Deemed to be university Notification 2019

Model code stops govt from announcing incentive for Gomathi Marimuthu 

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published Apr 30, 2019, 1:46 am IST


The MCC came into force on March 10 this year. Gomathi had won gold at the recently-concluded Asian Athletics Championship in Doha.

Gomathi Marimuthu

Chennai: The state government could not announce incentives to honour athlete Gomathi Marimuthu, who won the 800 m gold at the Asian Athletics Championship last week, owing to the enforcement of the Election Commission's Model Code of Conduct (MCC), fisheries minister D. Jayakumar has said.

He however hastened to add that the government had sought permission from the EC and after "clearance" is obtained from the Election Commission, the government would make the announcement.

The MCC came into force on March 10 this year. Gomathi had won gold at the recently-concluded Asian Athletics Championship in Doha. She is now focussed on qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, media reports said. The athlete hails from a village near Tiruchy.

The Election Commission's guidelines for political parties and candidates prohibits parties in power from announcing financial grants in any form, Mr Jayakumar told reporters at the airport here on Monday. Refuting allegation that the state government failed to encourage Gomathi, he said it was the government under Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami who had enhanced the quota in government jobs for sports persons to three per cent from two. "Only Amma (former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa) government has been bestowing importance on sports," he said.

"That is a false allegation. It is worrying that knowingly or unknowingly that opinion is being expressed. Now the code of conduct is in place. At that time, without the clearance of the EC, (support) cannot be given. We have written to the Election Commission. If we get clearance, the Chief Minister is ready to provide all help in a happy way. Action will be taken after the Election Commission clearance is received," he added.

Days after winning the gold, Gomathi had said, "if the Tamil Nadu government supports me, I can try further, to win a medal at the Olympics. There is one more year for the competition." Stating that the government was set to help her, she requested, "no one else should struggle the way I have. It would be helpful if the Tamil Nadu government helped them."

She knew of many athletes who had given up on their sporting careers due to lack of support, Gomathi had said.

No man has right to compel girl to fall in love or marry him: Madras HC

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | J STALIN

Published Apr 30, 2019, 4:32 am IST


The judge directed the Superintendent of Prisons to immediately arrange for counseling of this petitioner with a psychiatrist.

Madras High Court

Chennai: Holding that no man has any right to compel any girl to fall in love with him or to marry him, the Madras high court has dismissed a bail petition from an accused, arrested in connection with stabbing all over the body of a girl, on her refusing to concede his request for marriage, in the city.

Dismissing the bail petition filed by Kavin, Justice N.Anand Venkatesh said, "It will be better if the petitioner is kept inside the jail and the jail authorities start giving this petitioner counseling by experts and bring him to normalcy before he is released from the jail. Probably, by the time, the petitioner gets out of the jail, he will regret for what he did to the girl with whom he had a love affair".

The judge directed the Superintendent of Prisons to immediately arrange for counseling of this petitioner with a psychiatrist.

The judge said this is yet another case where the lover of the victim girl has attacked the girl in a brutal manner with knife on her refusing to marry him. Incidents of this nature are continuing to happen on a daily basis and it has reached monstrous proportions where man seem to think that the girl has to concede to their request for love/marriage and on refusal to do so, they take the extreme step of brutally attacking girls and had also gone to the extent of setting them to fire, the judge added.

The judge said this trend is on the raise and it is high time that courts put down their foot and bring some sanity in society. These incidents continue to happen because man things that a woman is a chattel and she has to concede to whatever a mandemands. This attitude has to be changed. In the instant case, the petitioner was in love with the injured girl. It seems that the girl had informed the petitioner that her parents are looking for a marriage and she is not in a position to marry him. The petitioner lost his sense of balance and has proceeded to brutally attacked her. The ruthlessness with which the injured has beenattacked is apparent from the discharge summary that has been given by the hospital. The girl has been stabbed all over the body and there are four stab incisions on the left side of the face with one penetrating into the buccal cavity. There are multiple stab injuries on the chest and on the abdomen. This is apart from the stab injuries that are found in the neck, arms and lower limbs. "

It is a miracle that this victim girl has survived this attack due to the effective treatment that has been given by the hospital. After this attack, this injured girl can never come back to normalcy and this incident is going to remain deep in the mind of the victim girl till the end of her life", the judge added.

The judge said this court while considering the bail petition has to necessarily look into the gravity of the offence and also the seriousness of the accusation made against the accused person. Obviously, the present case falls within the ambit of a case with serious accusations and very serious gravity of offence. The courts must stop being merciful or tend to have misplaced sympathies in cases of this nature. If the accused person had committed the crime, since he was wounded by the conduct of the girl who had suddenly refused to marry him, that does not give him a right to resort to stabbing a woman. There were other ways to deal with the situation, the judge added.

Supreme Court Weekly Round Up

Supreme Court Weekly Round Up: Sentence Can Be Enhanced In Convict's Appeal Only By Giving Him Notice Of Enhancement [Kumar Ghimirey V. The State of Sikkim] The Supreme Court reiterated that the power of a High Court to...

HC allows rectification of error in application forms

STAFF REPORTER

MADURAI, APRIL 30, 2019 00:00 IST

Bringing relief to two candidates, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission to consider their claim for rectifying error in their application forms to the post of Assistant Horticulture Officer.

In separate petitions, M. Kavin Kumar and R. Uma Maheshwari had sought rectification of the errors. The candidates had wrongly entered their community status as Backward class (BC) instead of De-notified community (DNC) in their online application form.

Though both the candidates had cleared the cut-off marks and met the eligibility criteria, they were not short-listed due to the error. Their representations to the TNPSC for rectification of the error was rejected, following which they approached the court.

Justice R. Mahadevan observed that such mistakes happen inadvertently and can be rectified. The petitioners cannot be penalised by denying them employment. The court directed the authorities to consider them for appointment to the post if they were found to be eligible and if there were no other legal impediments.

Student who scored 99 given zero

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

HYDERABAD, APRIL 30, 2019 00:00 IST

The Board of Intermediate Education recommended suspension of a lecturer and imposed a fine of Rs. 5,000 on an examiner, after the Inter results fiasco.

The action was taken with regard to the error in the marks of Navya, CEC second year student of Karimala Junior College of Mancherial. Though she secured 99 in Telugu, she was given zero marks due to the wrong marking in the OMR sheet.

Flight overshoots Shirdi runway on landing, all safe

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:30.04.2019

A SpiceJet flight overshot the runway at Shirdi airport on Monday when its landing gear got stuck in unpaved area. Luckily, it stopped safely and nobody was hurt aboard the Boeing 737 aircraft.

The runway had to be closed to remove the aircraft, due to which flight operations were hit in Shirdi. Passengers are learnt to have remained inside the aircraft for a long time. Arrangements for quick deboarding were reportedly not made.

Aviation authorities have categorized this as a serious incident and referred the probe to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board.

T’gana teacher sacked for giving ‘0’ marks instead of 99

Hyderabad:30.04.2019

This is the most glaring and classic example of the scale of goof-up in Telangana Board of Intermediate examinations with a student getting ‘0’ marks instead of ‘99’in a subject.

Gajji Navya failed in Intermediate Second Year (Class XII) as she scored ‘0’ marks in Telugu paper. This student from Mancherial district (Hall ticket number 1933216764) scored 99 marks in Commerce, 96 in civics, 95 in economics and 68 in English.

She was shocked to see the results declared by the Telangana Board of Intermediate (BIE) on April 18. She could not believe when she saw ‘0’ in Telugu as she had scored 98 in Telugu paper in Class XI and equally good marks in the remaining subjects.

With a leading Telugu daily highlighting her plight, the BIE swung into action and after checking her answer sheet revised the marks obtained in Telugu to 99. The incident caused huge embarrassment to the board.

With 21 students committing suicide and many students like Navya coming out in open to vent their anger, the state government was forced to order re-verification of answer sheets of 3.28 lakh students who failed to obtain the pass marks. A total of 9.47 lakh students had appeared in the exams for both first and second year in February-March.

After an inquiry into Navya’s case, BIE suspended a teacher and imposed fine on another. It announced that it has imposed ₹5,000 fine against Uma Devi, a teacher of a private school who evaluated Telugu paper of Navya. She was also sacked by her school management.

BIE also suspended Vijay Kumar, a teacher of a tribal welfare school, who had served as a scrutinizer but failed to notice the blunder.

BIE announced the action against the two teachers late on Sunday, a day after a threemember committee submitted its report to the government, which admitted to the discrepancies. However, the opposition parties and student groups are demanding action against the higher-ups in the Board and also the information technology company for the massive bungling.

They alleged that BIE was shielding those who committed serious blunders like giving single digit marks. IANS

Goa univ to teach vaastu, astrology

Gauree.Malkarnekar | TNN

Panaji:Students will soon be able to pursue higher education programmes offered by Goa University in ancient Indian knowledge systems like vaastu shastra and jyotish shastra, as also take up study of the ancient Indian languages of Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit. Vaastu shastra and jyotish shastra are the systems of architectural design and astrology, respectively, as practiced in ancient India.

Goa University is expected to start these courses in the academic year 2019-2020. This also makes the university rare among varsities to offer higher education in Indic knowledge systems.

CB-CID to probe Namakkal child trafficking case

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Namakkal:30.04.2019

The Namakkal child trafficking case was on Monday transferred to the CB-CID. The director general of police (DGP) office dispatched the transfer order to the Namakkal district superintendent of police, police sources said.

“As the newborn trafficking case involves hospitals, brokers and donors across the state, it is logical that the case is transferred to the CB-CID,” an officer from Namakkal district SP office said on condition of anonymity.

Salem range DIG T Senthil Kumar and west zone IG Periaiah sent a recommendation letter regarding the transfer of the case to the state government and police headquarters in Chennai two days ago. Based on their recommendation, the DGP transferred the case. So far the Namakkal district police have arrested eight people, including retired nursing assistant R Amuthavalli, her husband S Ravichandran and ambulance driver Murugesan. The Rasipuram all-woman police have arrested five touts from Erode district. All were remanded in judicial custody at the Salem Central Prison.

Meanwhile, the health department and the cooperative department issued suspension orders to Murugesan and Ravichandran for their alleged involvement in the case.

Anna univ to hold separate entrance test

PG Candidates Need To Clear AUCET 2019

A Ragu Raman TNN

Chennai:

30.04.2019

Friction between Anna University and the department of higher education has led to the university deciding to have a separate entrance exam for the PG courses it conducts on its own campuses.

Candidates for ME, MTech, MArch, MPlan, MBA or MCA at university departments, its constituent colleges and regional campuses will now need to clear the Anna University Common Entrance Test (AUCET) 2019. Till last year, the university used to conduct Tamil Nadu Common Entrance Test (TANCET) and candidates were admitted to PG courses based on their scores in TANCET and Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE).

“Students who wish to join the affiliated private engineering colleges and government engineering colleges have to appear for TANCET 2019,” said a university official.

As per the new system, Anna University will conduct the entrance for MCA and MBA on June 22. The syllabus for the test is likely to be similar to that of GATE. The registration of application would be exclusively online.

For ME, MTech, MArch and MPlan the test will be held on June 23. Registration of applications start on May 6 and the last date for registration is May 25. Due to the differences of opinion over reconstitution of Tamil Nadu Engineering Committee (TNEA), Anna University vice chancellor M K Surappa had resigned from the committee. Now, DOTE will conduct the online engineering counselling for UG admissions.

“Following the reconstitution of TNEA, the committee for Tamil Nadu Common Admission (TANCA) also changed and Directorate of Technical Education (DOTE) commissioner was made the co-chairman of the committee,” said a source in the University.

PMK founder Ramadoss, meanwhile, has condemned the announcement of separate exam for university departments and constituent colleges by saying it would lead to confusion.

He has called for the removal of Surappa as VC.

Anna University Teacher’s Association (AUTA), however, has expressed full confidence in Surappa. In a statement on Monday, AUTA said, “The appointment was made by the governor of Tamil Nadu and politicians shall not undermine such a prestigious position.”

96% students clear ‘toughest’ maths paper; 50% schools register all-pass

CLASS X RESULTS: PASS PERCENTAGE RISES TO 95.2%, 0.7% MORE THAN 2018; TIRUPUR DIST FIRST WITH 98.53%

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:30.04.2019

The overall pass percentage in the Class X state board exams in Tamil Nadu touched 95.2% this year, slightly better than last year’s 94.5% and as usual girls fared better than boys. A record 97% girls cleared the exam while 93.3% boys passed.

Of 12,548 schools, nearly half — 6,100 schools — registered 100% pass. More students cleared science subjects

(98.56%) and 96.46% students cleared maths, which was termed as the toughest exam in recent years. Tirupur district registered the highest pass percentage with 98.53% rate followed by Ramanathapuram, 98.48%, and Namakkal, 98.45%.

Headmasters said the number of those scoring centum in science and maths had come down because of the creative questions. “Students who were able to think and answer creatively alone were able to score 100 out of 100,” said G J Manohar, headmaster, Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School, Chennai.

Students can apply for retotalling from May 2

Many students said the five marks section in science was also tough this year. “We have designed the question paper in a way to make it tough to score the centum. Students have to read the entire book and have to understand the concepts to score full marks,” said D.Vasundradevi, director of government examinations.

The matriculation schools registered highest pass percentage with 99%. Government schools saw 92.48% pass percentage, while aided schools registered 94.53%.

Students can download the provisional marksheets through their schools from May 2. From May 6, they can download the marksheets on their own by registering their date of birth and registration number.

Candidates can apply for retotalling from May 2 to 4 through their schools. The fee for retotalling for English and language is ₹305 each and for other subjects, it is ₹205 each.

AI flights delayed for second day

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:30.04.2019

Air India flight delays continued for the second day on Monday at Chennai airport, as congestion caused by Sunday’s delays affected services. It affected people who were returning home or travelling for business.

Around 13 departures were delayed by more than an hour since early morning. The delayed flights included three to Delhi and one flight to Singapore. The 6.10am flight to Delhi was delayed by more than three hours and left at 9.30am. Flights to Mumbai, Kochi, Madurai and Kolkata were delayed by an hour, while a flight to Mumbai and Coimbatore was delayed by less than an hour in the afternoon. The delays caused congestion at the airport though some of the passengers were alerted about the rescheduling in advance.

The delays were caused because of a slowdown of Air India's servers two days ago. The airline had set the snag right on Saturday night but there were problems in other airports. A few of the departures in Chennai were also delayed because of arrival delays. An official said handling of aircraft and baggage were hit because of the large number of delays. Spice-Jet flights were delayed throughout the day by nearly an hour. The disruption early morning on Monday created inconvenience to passengers as a huge number of travellers fly for work on early morning flights. The number of passengers are also high because of summer vacation. Around 10 Air India flights were delayed on Sunday creating chaos and long queues at the check in counters.

Cyclone Fani to skip city, eyes AP, Odisha

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:30.04.2019

Tamil Nadu’s loss is Andhra Pradesh and Odisha’s gain, as cyclone Fani is expected to bring only light rain in Chennai and its surrounding districts, while heavy rain is expected in several districts along the east coast of India for the next two days.

According to IMD, cloudy skies and scattered light rain are expected in the city on April 30 and May 1 as Fani will pass Chennai coast at a distance of about 300 to 350km on May 1. However, once it crosses Chennai, the cyclone, which is expected to intensify into a severe cyclone by April 29, will recurve towards Andhra Pradesh.

The sudden shift in the course of the cyclone will bring heavy rain to north Andhra Pradesh and south Odisha, as well as Gangetic West Bengal and Bangladesh.

“Light to moderate rain is likely to occur at a few places over Tamil Nadu. In Chennai, the rain depends on the movement of the cyclone,” said S Balachandran, DDG, IMD.

According to Skymet Weather, Cyclone Fani was about 750km east-southeast of Chennai on Monday evening. After it crosses the north of Chennai on May 1, it will recurve in the east-northeast direction towards Andhra Pradesh and veer further up north. By April 30, it is expected to intensify into a very severe cyclone and by May 1, extremely severe cyclone. By then, the cyclone is expected to shift course and bring heavy rain in north coastal Andhra Pradesh, south coastal Odisha and West Bengal.

While only light and patchy rain has been forecast in and around Chennai, winds are expected to gust at a speed of about 40 to 60kmph with lightning likely to occur at isolated places. The sea condition will be rough on Tuesday and Wednesday. However, different weather models are generating different results when it comes to the cyclone’s landfall. A few projected that the cyclone will weaken before it reaches Bangladesh coast, while others showed that it will make a landfall near Bangladesh.

“Though the cyclone has a cloud cover of about 1,000km radius, the actual rain-bearing clouds are only at about 100 to 200km radius from the eye. The rest are at a 10,000 to 20,000 feet height which won’t bring rain,” said Mahesh Palawat, chief meteorologist, Skymet Weather.

Girl whose dad is in jail for mom’s death gets 72%

GRIT AND RESILIENCE KEEP THEM GOING AND HELP MAKE A MARK

Aditi.R@timesgroup.com

30.04.2019

Gayathri (name changed) was nine when she saw her mother set herself on fire after enduring years of dowry harassment. She later died of her injuries. Her father was sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to the Palayamkottai prison. Gayathri and her two younger sisters were left to fend for themselves.

“But during those turbulent times we remembered our mother’s words — to be brave, stay focussed and be educated,” she said.

Gayathri scored 72% in the Class X board exams. Though it was a lot less than what she had hoped for, she is satisfied. “Math was the toughest, since the questions were tricky. I lost my marks there. But next year I will do better,” she said.

After her mother passed away, Gayathri and her sisters were sent to her paternal grandfather’s house. But their grandfather declared his helplessness and they moved to her uncle’s place. However, the siblings found their uncle was suffering from mental illness. The girls were rescued by the district Child Welfare Committee and a good Samaritan sponsored their education at a local residential school in Tirunelveli.

The incidents starting from her mother’s death have deeply scarred the 15-year-old. She has been struggling with bouts of depression and is undergoing counselling and therapy.

“My sisters were too young during the death of my mother, so they don’t remember anything,” she said.

But she has clearly planned her future. “I will be taking up pure science to become a nurse,” she saidand explained, “My economic condition does not allow me to prepare for NEET and pursue MBBS. My focus right now is to top the next board exams, get admission in a good college and move to Chennai with my sisters.” she said.

Directorate of examinations draws veil of secrecy over result details

A Ragu Raman TNN

30.04.2019

Along with abolition of ranks, the Directorate of Government Examinations (DGE), which conducts the state board exams, has drawn a veil of secrecy over the details of the results. This makes it difficult for parents and teachers to analyze the performance of students and guide them for higher studies.

“It would be easy for the students to select the groups in Class XI, if they know the performance of other students in the boards. Without knowing the competition, it would be difficult for them,” said Jayaprakash A. Gandhi, a career consultant. “It’s fine if they don’t want to give the details of toppers. But, they should at least say how many students score above 450 and 400 so that everyone can have an idea where they stand,” he added.

In the past two years, the board gave the slab-wise performance of students — the number of students who scored above 481 out of 500 marks, between 451 and 480, 426 and450, and 401 and 425 marks. It also said how many students scored between 301 and 400, and 201 and 300 marks. For the Class XII exam also they had given a break-up of performance – and also how many scored centum and how many students failed in single or multiple subjects, which helped the teachers analyze what worked and what went wrong.

But, this year after increasing the difficulty of question papers, and with

many students scoring less than 400 marks, the board simply did not share any of these details, which has left many teachers and parents confused.

In the plus 2 results also many students had no idea whether the cut-off would come down or go up without knowing the full details.

“With the details, a student would know whether he would get admission in a good college or not. Now, many students with 180 cut-off marks believe they would get admission in Anna University,” Jayaprakash Gandhi said.

Some teachers claimed that the DGE has adopted moderation to increase the pass percentage in the maths exam this year. They asked the DGE to release the true results, which would reflect the actual state of school education. D Vasundradevi, director of government examinations, said, “We didn’t do any moderation. But, the question paper design was such that it was easy to clear the exam but tough to score high marks.”

Asked why the board was not sharing details, she said, “Other boards including CBSE are not sharing details other than pass percentage. We felt sharing the centum and performance details would demotivate the students.”

UNLIKE PAST TWO YEARS, THIS YEAR THE BOARD DID NOT SHARE ANY DETAILS LIKE SLAB-WISE PERFORMANCE, LEAVING MANY TEACHERS AND PARENTS CONFUSED

Madurai EVM Security lapse: Madras HC orders disciplinary 
action against errant Election Officials 

Meera Emmanuel April 28 2019 

https://barandbench.com/evm-security-lapse-madras-hc-transfer-election-officials/

After it came to light that a Tahsildar and three other municipal officers had trespassed into a room proximate to an EVM strongroom in the Madurai constituency, the Madras High Court has directed that disciplinary action be taken against errant election officials in charge.

The order was passed on a plea filed in the wake of the alleged trespass by Su Venkatesan, an electoral candidate representing the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

For allowing the security lapse, the Bench of S Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad on Saturday directed the transfer of the following officials i.e. Dr S Natarajan, the Madurai Collector/ District Election Officer; Guruchandran, the Assistant Returning Officer to the Collector; Mohandas, the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of elections and other police officers in charge.

A letter addressed by the ECI dated April 27 (Saturday) informed the Court of their transfer appointments with immediate effect.

The Court was working on Saturday to compensate for the Court’s holiday on April 18, in view of the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu.

On noting that no punitive action had been initiated certain others, the Court has also directed the ECI to initiate disciplinary action or prosecution against the Personal Assistant (General) to the District Collector, Madurai District, among others reported having been involved in the incident as per a report of a designated Enquiry Officer.

The controversial incident occurred on the evening of April 20 in the No. 32, Madurai Parliamentary Constituency. The Electronic Voting Machines (EVMS) had been taken to a strong room in Madurai Medical College Premises.

The EVM strongroom was expected to be monitored round the clock under strict security conditions. However, on the evening of April 20, a woman Tahsildar was found to have entered the document storage room situated above the counting room where the EVMs were kept.

As per the petition, she was allowed entry without authorisation and remained in the building for three hours, “for the reasons best known to her.” During the hearing yesterday, the Court was informed that the Tahsildar has been suspended following the incident. Three other municipal corporation employees were also reported to have accompanied her.

The petition goes on to inform,

“They did not even have any identity cards issued by the competent authority… Very shockingly, the Police and security personnel took note of their unlawful presence, only after three hours and detained them. But, on the intervention of some unidentified top officials in the City, they were let off, for obvious reasons.”

On coming to know of their illegal entry, efforts were made to contact the Returning Officer (RO), S Natarajan. However, the RO did not respond. Rather, the petitioner contended that he was only able to meet the RO around midnight.

“Shockingly”, the petitioner goes on to submit, “he [RO] said that he was not at all aware of the said incident and he came to know it only through me; which is totally untrue as he cannot be a person unaware of the said incident, when the unlawful entrants were let off only at the intervention of some officials from his office.

The said unlawful entry was made with an intention to make possible manipulations in the postal ballots.”

A representation was consequently addressed to the Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to initiate a high-level inquiry into the matter. The Additional CEO for Tamil Nadu was therefore deputed to Madurai as the Enquiry Officer. A report in the matter was also submitted to the CEO.

The petitioner further alleges that there may be possible collusion between the trespassing Tashildar and her team with the ruling party to do unlawful things in their favour.

However, citing the failure of the Election Commission officials to discharge their duty, the Court was approached to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by an officer not below the rank of the Principal Secretary to the Election Commission of India to conduct an enquiry into the matter under its direct supervision.

The petition also prays for a direction to provide a three-tier security system to election counting centres at Madurai and other constituencies through the deployment of adequate CPRF personnel.

Another interim direction prayed for was the appointment of a Special Observer in the rank of an IAS officer for No. 32 Madurai Parliamentary Constituency. The matter has been posted to be taken up next on April 30.

The order passed yesterday states,

“Having regard to the above discussion, we are inclined to grant the interim relief as prayed for, in the W.M.P.Nos.13147 and 13150 of 2019 and both the petitions are allowed.

We direct the registry to post the matter on 30.04.2019, for filing counter.”

Read the Order: