Hindi reply to TN MP’s plea: Follow Official Languages Act, HC tells Centre

Hindi reply to TN MP’s plea: Follow Official Languages Act, HC tells Centre

K.Kaushik@timesgroup.com

Madurai:20.08.2021

Allowing Madurai MP Su Venkatesan’s plea that sought a direction to the Centre to ensure that all communications between the Centre and the state of Tamil Nadu and its people be in English alone, the Madras high court on Thursday directed the Centre to strictly follow the provisions of the Official Languages Act.

A division bench of Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice M Duraiswamy observed that once a representation is given in English, it is the duty of the Centre to send a reply only in English as the same would be in consonance with the provisions of the Official Languages Act.

Observing that this is an era of communication and information, the judges said a few languages in the country are thousands of years old and many are 100 years old. The governments should take steps for preservation and development of all languages.

Venkatesan had moved court after he received a Hindi reply from the ministry of state for home affairs to a representation he sent seeking to set up exam centres for the CRPF paramedical recruitment drive in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry last year.

The Centre submitted that the reply was in Hindi inadvertently. The Centre further submitted that there would not be any violation to the Official Languages Act and the Official Language Rules in the future. Recording the submissions, the judges directed the Centre, its officials and other instrumentalities to strictly follow provisions of the Act and Rules.

Justice Kirubakaran, famous for razor-sharp queries, retires

Justice Kirubakaran, famous for razor-sharp queries, retires

Srikkanth.D@timesgroup.com

Chennai:20.08.2021 

Be it his judgments or observations, Justice N Kirubakaran always had a lot to say — and most made headlines more often than not. His last day at office as judge of the Madras high court was no different.

At his farewell event on Thursday, Justice Kirubakaran, feted for his people-oriented judgments, sought regional benches of the Supreme Court and closure of Tasmac shops partially so that total prohibition would become a reality one day.

Justice Kirubakaran is best remembered for his relentless battle against the state’s liquor policy and strove to streamline legal education and practice. It was due to his series of rulings that the procedure to verify antecedents of lawyer-aspirants before enrolment was put in place. He had zero-tolerance when it came to encroachments and land grab by individuals and even corporates. He evolved a unique courtquery system of shooting dozens of questions to bureaucrats in order to unearth irregularities or set right anomalies.

In his farewell speech on Thursday, Justice Kirubakaran was earnest in his appeal to the legal fraternity, generous in complimenting his brother judges and his staff with the right dose of humour throughout.

Thanking his parents, Justice Kirubakaran became emotional and apologised to his wife and daughter for not having had enough quality family time throughout his career. He also recalled the guidance from his senior – the late Habibullah Basha, former advocate general of Tamil Nadu.

Candid in his self-introspection, Justice Kirubakaran said he was not a famous lawyer and that his elevation to the bench was to give representation to the vanniyar community. “However, I was never swayed by any considerations after I became a judge,” Justice Kirubakaran said.

He also heaped praise on the Supreme Court judge-designate Justice M M Sundresh for his guidance throughout his career. He even let down his guard, albeit intentionally, referring to Justice Sundresh as ‘machan’, triggering giggles from the audience. He also noted professional and emotional support from Justice M Sathyanarayanan, who is now NGT member in Pune from where he flew down to attend the function.

“Though I am demitting office today, I have failed in my endeavour to streamline legal profession and education and close down Tasmac,” Justice Kirubakaran said and appealed to the legal fraternity to work towards restoring the image of the lawyer community, which he felt has taken a beating over years.

As for the criticism that he often indulged in ‘judicial overreach,’ Justice Kirubakaran said he acted by his conscience. “Sometimes, I might have conducted a (judicial) kangaroo court, which is necessary in the interests of justice.”

Stating that New Delhi and Mumbai are power centres in judiciary, the retiring judge appealed to the union government to amend the Constitution and set up regional benches of the Supreme Court to serve people from every nook and corner of the nation.

Delhi HC dismisses plea of underage student seeking permission to sit in NEET-2021

Delhi HC dismisses plea of underage student seeking permission to sit in NEET-2021

ANI | Aug 17, 2021, 01.47 PM IST

 NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismisses a plea seeking direction to National Testing Agency (NTA) in order to allow petitioner/student who is 13 months underage for the entrance test NEET-2021 conducted by the testing agency.

The Bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh on Tuesday while dismissing the plea, said we see no reason to entertain the matter, there are no substances. We find no reason to reduce to age criteria. Court also imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 on the petitioner.

The petitioner student also urged the court to direct NTA to amend impugned regulation concerned with minimum age criteria of 17 years as of December 2021 for first-year UG medical course for students appearing in the entrance test (NEET-2021) by replacing with 15 years similar to JEE-2021 for UG Engineering courses, as it is ultra vires to Indian Medical Council Act 1956.

The petition was filed by a minor student through advocate Surendra Kumar Yadav.

Medical Council of India issued an impugned Notification on Graduate Medical Education 1997 concerned with eligible age to appear in the entrance test for MBBS program. In Notification /Regulation, Eligibility Criteria for Admission to the Medical Course in connection with age is mentioned in para point no. 4.1 that "He/she shall complete the age of 17 years on or before 31 st December of the year of admission to the MBBS".

"The requirement of the age of 17 years on or before December 31 of the year of admission to the MBBS is not mentioned in the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956," the plea read.

"The Petitioner is a minor citizen of India. The date of birth of Petitioner as per documents is January 26, 2006 That Petitioner is an intelligent student and passed his matriculation in 2019 and class 12 exam in 2021," the plea added.

The petitioner said that he is suffering a lot mentally and psychologically day by day because he is not able to complete the registration on the website, the petitioner's lawyer argued.

Classmates of the petitioner are appearing for NEET-2021 but due to 13 months issue, Petitioner even cannot fill online form for the entrance test, the petitioner said.

"This shall also be a violation of Fundamental Rights enumerated in Article 14, 16, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India directly or indirectly for Petitioner citizen who is a student and want to peruse a UG Course in medicine," the petition said.

Delhi High Court Dismisses Challenge Against Minimum Age Condition In NEET; Imposes Rs. 10,000 Cost

Delhi High Court Dismisses Challenge Against Minimum Age Condition In NEET; Imposes Rs. 10,000 Cost

Akshita Saxena

17 Aug 2021 2:45 PM

The Delhi High Court dismissed today a student's plea seeking permission to appear in the NEET examination, despite being underage by 13 months. The Court also imposed a cost of Rs. 10,000 on the petitioner, to be deposited with DSLSA within four weeks for use in access to justice program.

The Petitioner, born in 2006, had challenged Regulation on Graduate Medical Education 1997, Rule 4(1) whereof prescribes minimum eligibility age of 17 years to appear in NEET. He stated that he is underage by merely 12 months and 26 days and sought permission to appear in the examination. He also submitted that the impugned Rule is almost 20 years old and does not contemplate that the present generation is "extremely brilliant".

The counsel for the Petitioner, Advocate Surendra Kumar Yadav, argued that the minimum eligibility age should be 15 years, keeping in mind the intellect of the present generation.

"If we allow this, tomorrow someone can come and say now the generation is more brilliant so make it 12 years, 7 years. How can we do it? It's a policy matter," Chief Justice DN Patel remarked at the outset.

However, as Yadav continued to press the petition, the Bench also comprising of Justice Jyoti Singh imposed cost on the petitioner. It observed that setting eligibility criteria is a policy matter which cannot be interfered with by Court. Further, if one underage student is allowed today, the Court will be flooded with similar petitions in the future.

In its order, the Bench said,

"It is ought to be kept in mind that primary role of court is to interpret the law as it is, where the law is explicitly clear and unambiguous. The court is not concerned with law as it ought to be.

The cut off age limit on or before 31st December of the year of admission to MBBS is a policy decision of the respondent. Contention raised by counsel for the Petitioner is that the Petitioner is underage by 12 months and 26 days which may be allowed. This is not permissible. If one Petitioner is allowed who is underage by 12 months and 26 days, tomorrow another Petitioner may come to the Court and he may say that he is underage by 12 months and 30 days and then 3rd Petitioner can come and say he is underage by 12 months and 35 days. The Court cannot allow such type of underage students in NEET exam in violation of the 1997 Rules."

Counsel appearing for the Respondent pointed out that the 1997 Regulations are not archaic, as alleged by the Petitioner, inasmuch as the same were reviewed in the year 2018. He stated that there are a catena of judgments, disallowing such petitions for age relaxation.

Read here:

Case Title: Master Akash Yadav (Minor) v. Union of India & Ors.

Second Covid wave claimed 53 doctors in TN

Second Covid wave claimed 53 doctors in TN

67 doctors died due to Covid in State during the first wave; now toll stands at 120

Published: 18th August 2021 05:35 AM 

By Sinduja JaneExpress News Service

CHENNAI: In the second wave of the pandemic, as many as 53 doctors from Tamil Nadu died from Covid-19 till the first week of August, said data collected by the Indian Medical Association.According to the State IMA members, in the first wave, 67 doctors had died, taking the tally to 120 in the second wave.

Last year in August, doctors deaths due to Covid triggered a controversy after the Indian Medical Association Headquarters released a data showing that 43 doctors in Tamil Nadu had died from Covid and its Tamil Nadu State’s branch said that the numbers were ‘incorrect’.

The issue became political after Udayanidhi Stalin, now MLA, had with data tweeted “A report reveals that TN tops in Covid-19 deaths of doctors. It’s a disgrace caused by the AIADMK government. The government, should clarify the condition of doctors treating infected patients and give them proper protection.”

After the tweet, the then Health Minister C Vijayabaskar, had condemned it and said legal action would be taken on people spreading false and unverified news on social media. Chief Minister MK Stalin has announced a solatium of Rs 25 lakh for 43 families of doctors who died due to Covid.Among them only two received the solatium and for others the government is in the process of giving it.

“Recently a GO has been passed on this. We are regularly updating the death report to the government,”said Dr A K Ravikumar, State Secretary, Tamil Nadu branch, Indian Medical Association.

“We request the government to extend solatium to the doctors who died in the second wave also,” said Dr Ravikumar.

Dr T Ramakrishnan, State President, IMA said,the data was collected from April 15 to till the first week of August. Indian Medical Association Headquarters is giving Rs 10 lakh to the families of the deceased doctors and the State IMA is also giving Rs 2 lakh.According to the Health Department data, 2.49 crore people were vaccinated till Monday, among them only 3.5 percent healthcare workers were vaccinated.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association made a short film under the title “Covid Injustice” and dedicated it to the doctors, healthcare and frontline workers who died from Covid.Dr M Akilan, State President, TNMOA said,”We wanted to tell people how doctors’ lives are put at risk.”

Madras HC judge MM Sundresh among nine to be elevated to SC by collegium

Madras HC judge MM Sundresh among nine to be elevated to SC by collegium

Among the nine judges named by the Supreme Court Collegium for elevation to the apex court is Justice MM Sundresh.

Published: 19th August 2021 05:28 AM |

MM Sundresh Madras HC judge

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Among the nine judges named by the Supreme Court Collegium for elevation to the apex court is Justice MM Sundresh. He is the third senior-most judge of the Madras HC. It was him who delivered the judgment that effectively banned the erection of advertisements, banners and hoardings near traffic signals.

A bench, headed by him, recently directed the CBI to probe into the death of pachyderms in the forest after a PIL alleged they were poached for ivory. Born in Erode, the 58-year-old completed his schooling and pre-university education there.

A graduate of the Loyola College and the Madras Law College, the judge was enrolled as an advocate in 1985 and served as a government advocate from 1991 to 1996. His precise presentation of cases on facts and law was well appreciated by the Bench and Bar.

He was also the Counsel for the TN Small Scale Industries Development Corporation. He was also a member of the Monitoring Committee overseeing the establishment of Reverse Osmosis System to Dyeing Units of Tiruppur, Karur and Erode. He also served as an Additional Judge of the Madras High Court in 2009 and was elevated as a permanent judge there in 2011.

TN not offering first dose of Covaxin any longer: Ma Subramanian

TN not offering first dose of Covaxin any longer: Ma Subramanian

So far, 2,03,07,691 people have received their first dose, and 48,58,628 people the second dose.

Published: 19th August 2021 05:31 AM |

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: With four lakh doses of Covaxin being needed to provide people with their second jabs, Tamil Nadu is no longer offering a first dose of the vaccine, said Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Wednesday.

According to the Health Minister, so far the State had received 39,08,250 doses of Covaxin and 36,31,545 doses had been administered. Private hospitals have a stock of 2,12,937 doses. The State has informed the Union Health Ministry that four lakh doses of Covaxin are needed to provide people with their second doses, he said.

As two doses of Covaxin are administered with a gap of just 28 days, there is a shortage. This is not the case with Covishield which has a longer gap between doses, the minister said, speaking to reporters at the Government Corona Hospital in King Institute, Guindy.

In Tamil Nadu so far 2.70 crore people have been vaccinated. The State had received 2.52 crore vaccine doses, excluding stock in private hospitals. The State has 8,89,877 doses of vaccine currently in stock and is expected to receive 27 lakh doses as part of its August supply from the Union Government in 13 days, the minister said.

So far, 2,03,07,691 people have received their first dose, and 48,58,628 people the second dose. As many as 2,74,011 pregnant women and 1,95,934 lactating mothers have received the vaccine in Tamil Nadu, Subramanian added.

The minister said that in five to 10 days a lab will be opened at the DMS campus by Chief Minister MK Stalin to conduct genome sequence analysis and detect coronavirus variants such as Delta. Equipment worth Rs 3 crore has been purchased for this and five medical technicians from Tamil Nadu were sent to InSTEM, Bengaluru for training.

In the two weeks since the launch of Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam, 1.28 lakh people have benefited, he said.