CHENNAI: The Madras High Court directed the State to make its stand public on display of photos and portraits of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in government offices and various welfare schemes and freebies, by March 20.
The first bench of Acting Chief Justice Huluvadi G Ramesh and Justice R Mahadevan gave the directive when two PILs, one from DMK MLA J Anbazhagan and the other from advocate K Balu, president of Advocates Forum for Social Justice, came up before it on Monday.
Display of portraits of political leaders, the bench said could not be questioned if they adorned private places or party officers. But the issue raised by the petitioners deserve a proper response from the government, it observed.
The PILs also opposed the proposal to construct a memorial to perpetuate the memory of Jayalalithaa at a public place on the Marina. Since Jayalalithaa was found guilty in the assets case and convicted, she became unfit for any such glorification, Anbazhagan’s senior counsel P Wilson and Balu contended. Merely because the appeals stood abated on account of her death, the government could not justify displaying her portraits in government offices and schemes, Wilson contended, adding that the Supreme Court had restored the attachment of her properties.