Judge regrets grant of permission for ‘adal-padal’
Gross misuse of judicial orders permitting dance programmes to hold obscene and vulgar performances has made Justice PN Pakash of Madras High Court to express profound regret.
“I had passed those orders placing implicit faith in the representation(s) of the counsel (for petitioners). One has to learn from previous bad experiences and I am willing to,” Justice Prakash said.
He had earlier granted permission to conduct dance programmes at festivals in temples in the districts on various occasions.
What made the judge to deeply express regret was the misuse of his orders to hold indecent, objectionable and obscene dances.
When a batch of petitions from six different persons came up before the judge on November 24 last praying for a direction to the respective police in Namakkal, Erode and Salem districts to grant permission to hold ‘adal, padal’ programme on different dates, certain startling facts were brought to the knowledge of the Judge. They included performance of obscene dance by women with ‘two piece dresses’. The youths in drunken mood danced inside the crowd, in which wordy duels arose, resulting in caste clash ruining peace in the village.
The programmes were conducted in violation of the court orders and conditions imposed by the police throughout the whole night, affecting the students, aged, children and women. If police intervened to stop the programme at the stipulated time, the agitated mob quarelled with police, creating a law and order problem, the Judge was told.
The Additional Public Prosecutor also played a video clipping of one such dance programme at the Judge’s chambers in the presence of the counsel for the petitioners, Public Prosecutor and Rasipuram DSP and everyone had no option, but to unanimously agree that it surpassed the very definition of the words “obscenity” and “vulgarity”.
That apart, the Superintendent of Police, Namakkal, in his report said the TN Thiraippada Medai Nadana Kalaignargal Nala Sangam, Salem, had requested for a ban on such aadal padal programme as that had resulted in unemployment to genuine folk artistes in the countryside.