The Hindu : Briefly

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 18, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Briefly

Bodies found in well

By Our Special Correspondent

VILLUPURAM Jan. 17. The police fished out the bodies of a woman, with her hands and legs tied, and of her daughter from a well at Elavanasurkottai, near here, today.

According to neighbours, both Bhuvaneswari (31) and Devi (11) were missing for the past two days. The police suspect murder. The police said the woman's husband, Velumani, had developed illicit relations with another woman and was insisting on a separation from his wife.

Woman kills children, herself

By Our Staff Reporter

VELLORE Jan.17. Kanchala (35), wife of Hari Vittal Rao, a vegetable and flower merchant of Bangalore, jumped into an irrigation well after throwing her four children into it at Perumapattu, near Tirupattur, yesterday.

According to the police, Kanchala came to Perumapattu from Bangalore on Friday, but did not go to her mother's house in AVM Nagar. The bodies of Kanchala and her one-and-half-year-old girl child were found by the public in the well this evening. On entering the well, they also found the bodies of Raji (12), Kulli alias Lakshmi (8) and Murugan (6).

Call for Mahavir Jayanthi holiday

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI JAN. 17. The Tamil Nadu Rajasthani Pravasi Ekta Sangh has appealed to the Chief Minister to include Mahavir Jayanthi in the list of government holidays. The festival was important for the Jain community throughout the country. Jainism was one of the oldest religions of the world and was an integral part of the Indian culture and tradition. Tamil Nadu had an unique heritage for the religion. The population of Jains in the State was as much as that of other minority communities. Hence, Mahavir Jayanthi should be included in the list of holidays, the sangh said in its letter.

Mixed response to railway VRS

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI Jan. 17. While the Southern Railway Mazdoor Union has opposed the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) announced by the Railway Ministry for locomotive drivers and gangmen, the Integral Coach Factory Karmik Sangh has welcomed it. The mazdoor union said the scheme would benefit only a handful as a majority of gangmen would not have put in 33 years of service to become eligible for the scheme. The general secretary, N. Kanniah, said the guidelines prescribed were impracticable and the entire service of the gangmen should be taken as the qualifying service, besides fixing the age limit at 50. He demanded that the VRS optees should be given additional monetary benefit, apart from giving appointment to their wards.

The Karmik Sangh said the scheme would improve the efficiency of railways, besides providing employment to wards of employees opted for the scheme.

Sub-court order quashed

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI JAN. 17. The Madras High Court has set aside a subordinate court order granting stay on managing the Prabavathy Venkatesh Polytechnic near Tindivanam by rotation as per a June 2001 compromise deed.

A Division Bench comprising Justice K. Govindarajan and Justice Prabha Sridevan, allowing an appeal by K.V. Natarajan against the Tindivanam principal sub-judge's order, said the trial court had exceeded its jurisdiction in granting the interim injunction.

Following a dispute over the management of the polytechnic and the Rajas Educational Trust, a compromise was reached at a panchayat meet on June 11, 2001. Mr. Natarajan and his brother K.V. Anantharaj agreed to rotate the management between them every alternate year. Accordingly, Mr. Natarajan handed over the management of the polytechnic to Mr. Anantharaj in June 2001 and it was to be transferred back to him in June 2002.

However, shortly before expiry of the tenure, Mr. Anantharaj filed a suit seeking to remove Mr. Natarajan and his wife N. Lakshmi as trustees and to restrain them from interfering with the management of the trust and the polytechnic. The present appeal was necessitated by the lower court granting interim injunction.

Allowing the appeal, the Bench said, "there is no explanation why Mr. Anantharaj and his wife A. Prabavathy filed the suit after one year, that too at the fag end of the period of management as given under the compromise deed ... We are of the prima facie opinion that the suit is filed only to prevent the Natarajans exercising their right under the compromise deed." The judges also faulted the trial court for having "decided the suit itself without even recording any evidence. Such approach cannot be appreciated. The trial court went to the extent of observing that the compromise deed could be ignored, though no party has challenged the validity of the deed. As a matter of fact, Mr. Anantharaj benefited from the deed by taking over the management."

Order on wage rights upheld

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI JAN. 17. A single judge order protecting the wage rights of 30 employees of Malaysian Airlines, identified by the management for retrenchment, has been upheld by the First Bench of the Madras High Court.

When the employees challenged the ouster move, counsel for the airline told the single judge that all 30 could join as general sales agents with full salary protection, medical benefit and leave facilities. The single judge recorded the undertaking and passed an order on July 29 last, with a condition that in the event of non-compliance with the conditions an order of injunction would come into effect.

However, the airline moved the court against seeking to modify the order on the ground that no such "concession" was given to the employees. The single judge then modified the order on September 8 and said, "if the retrenched employees suffer any monetary loss due to the change of service conditions as indicated above, the monetary loss shall be compensated by the management." Hence the present appeal.

However, the First Bench, comprising the Chief Justice B. Subhashan Reddy and Justice A. Kulasekaran said, "we do not find any error in the order of the single judge... he has rightly passed an order protecting the rights of the retrenched staff, of any difference in pay, as the same was agreed to be protected." Pointing out that the writ petition had been kept pending, the Bench disposed of the appeal saying even if the petition was dismissed,"any payment made to employees can always be set off from the future amounts payable."

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