The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Apex court hearing on eve of inauguration

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 21, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Apex court hearing on eve of inauguration

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI, JULY 20. The Supreme Court will hear on July 23 a special leave petition (SLP) seeking a stay of the July 6 Presidential notification for establishment of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court as well as its inauguration slated for July 24.

A three-judge Bench comprising the Chief Justice, R.C. Lahoti; Justice G.P. Mathur and Justice C.K. Thakker fixed the date after the SLP filed by, V. Subramanian, lawyer, challenging the July 16 High Court order declining to grant relief, was `mentioned' today for early listing.

When senior counsel L. Nageswara Rao made the `mention' for early hearing, the Chief Justice asked him, "Is it not a matter to be settled between the two Bars (Madurai and Chennai) amicably? Should you not tell the bars to settle the matter?" Mr. Justice Lahoti said " a committee of judges has been constituted to go into your problems. Without even waiting for its report you rush to the court. Can't it be sorted out''?.

Counsel said the question involved was whether the States Reorganisation Act would apply or not for issuing the notification.

``We have no difficulty in hearing the matter on the judicial side'', Mr. Justice Lahoti said.

Mr. Subramaniam submitted that the High Court, while rejecting the prayer for an interim stay of the inauguration, failed to appreciate the basic requirement of constitutional provisions for establishing a permanent Bench of the High Court in Madurai. The records clearly showed that the High Court had given the go-by to the legal requirements— that the establishment of a High Court Bench was governed by Article 214 and that the provisions of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, under which the President issued the notification for the Bench, would not apply to the Madras High Court as Tamil Nadu was not a State within the meaning of `new State' as defined under the 1956 Act.

`Decisive phase'

A. Subramani reports from Chennai:

Activities preceding the formation of a Bench entered a decisive phase today, with the SLP against the proposal being listed for July 23 in the Supreme Court; Chennai advocates intensifying their stir and the Madras High Court Registry asking 100-odd staff members to assume duty in Madurai.

With just three days to go for the inauguration of the Bench, the pros and cons are being discussed everywhere, among judicial officers, court staff and advocates.

For the second day today, lawyers practising in the High Court took out a rally — a blackflag procession this time — and ensured that the court boycott was near-total. The lengthy arguments over the Government's show-cause to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Trust in the court of Justice R. Balasubramanian were a conspicuous exception.

Tomorrow, there will be a human chain agitation against vesting the jurisdiction of some centrally-located districts such as Tiruchi, Thanjavur and Karur with the Madurai Bench. The Madras High Court Advocates Association president, S. Prabakaran, said the serial agitation would continue even after the inauguration of the Bench.

Postings for Bench

The Registry, on its part, has already posted a full-fledged Registrar (Judicial) transferring the Principal District Judge of Chengalpattu district, Periyakaruppiah. Now that the staff members, 123 to be exact, who were given transfer orders a few weeks ago, have also been asked to join duty at the Madurai Bench. The only item remaining to be transferred are the case bundles.

It has been officially announced that only about 26,000 civil and criminal cases were to be shifted to the new Bench. Though no final decision has been taken about vesting writ jurisdiction as well with the new Bench, 16,000 writ cases have been identified for transfer. The issue of writ jurisdiction remains a bone of contention between lawyers in Chennai and those in the southern districts, comparable only to the contentious issue of territorial jurisdiction.

Not less than five judges are also required to be transferred from here to Madurai. The names of the chosen judges are yet to be announced.

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