MADURAI: Considering the practical difficulties explained by the state, coupled with suppression of facts by the litigant, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed by an advocate seeking direction to supply water from Vaigai river to three taluks – Mudukulathur, Kadaladi and Kamuthi – in Ramanathapuram district.
A bench of justices G Jayachandran and KK Ramakrishnan passed the order recently on the petition filed by Kidathirukkai M Muniasamy, who claimed to be the president of Tamil Nadu Legal Safety Movement Trust.
The judges noted that a similar petition filed by another litigant, M Prabhu, in 2018 was disposed of in 2021 with a direction to the authorities to consider his representation. Based on this, the authorities considered it but rejected the representation in 2023.
Prabhu filed another petition the same year and it was dismissed by the court in March 2025 after considering the explanation given by the authorities that only 31 tanks of Mudukulathur taluk, which fall under the Vaigai river basin, are entitled to receive water from the river.
The judges further noted from the counter affidavit submitted by the authorities in Prabhu's petition that the Koothankal channel of the Vaigai system which serves the above 31 tanks starting with 540 cusecs of carrying capacity, ends with 50 cusecs in the last tank. Hence, there is no scope for further command area beyond this tail end of Koothankal Channel as there is huge scarcity even in the last 10 tanks therein, the counter affidavit said.
Muniasamy, who appeared as Prabhu's counsel for both petitions, had suppressed these facts and filed the present PIL, the judges criticized.
Since the government counsel too submitted that the irrigation rights of the three taluks are protected by providing water from Parthibanur dam, the judges said Muniasamy has filed a vexatious litigation without considering the explanation given by the authorities.
The judges further observed that Muniasamy failed to follow judicial discipline by suppressing the facts about the earlier petitions, and dismissed the PIL by imposing a cost of Rs 500 payable to the TN State Legal Services Authority within two weeks.