The Hindu : Front Page : Man argues case for his daughter

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Friday, Jul 04, 2008
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Man argues case for his daughter

Mohamed Imranullah S.

Court permits girl to attend MBBS counselling.

— Photo: K. Ganesan

M. Dhivya Bharathi with her father R. Marungaraj at the Madras High Court Bench in Madurai on Thursday.

MADURAI: R. Marungaraj (46) of Ramanathapuram was a worried man. His daughter M. Dhivya Bharathi (17) had scored 1,155 out of 1,200 marks in the Plus Two examinations, but was not called for MBBS counselling scheduled for Saturday. The reason: Her date of birth printed in the mark sheet was wrong.

Panicked, the father approached the school authorities and District Educational Officer. However, he could not get the mistake rectified owing to paucity of time. Left with no option, he engaged a lawyer and filed a writ petition before the Madras High Court Bench here on Wednesday.

The matter was listed for hearing before Justice K. Suguna in Court Hall No. 6 on Thursday.

Even as the father and daughter were anxiously waiting, their lawyer expressed his inability to argue the case.

An extraordinary general body meeting of Bar Associations had decided, just a few minutes earlier, to boycott court proceedings pressing certain demands.

Taken aback, the duo desperately explored an alternative. They were told that the father himself could appear before the court in view of the urgency of the matter.

Though he initially hesitated, Mr. Marungaraj, a labourer in Saudi Arabia, gathered courage after some persuasion and showed up before the Judge.

Understanding his anxiety, Ms. Justice Suguna directed the Director of Medical Education to permit the girl to attend the counselling. The interim order was conveyed by wire. Any decision taken at the counselling session would be subject to the final orders on the writ petition, the Judge said.

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