MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court has dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) as ‘premature’ that sought to prevent prohibition against conducting ‘Thirukalyana Virundhu’ during the Chithirai festival in a playground belonging to Sethupathi higher secondary school in Madurai.
Palamuthircholai Thiruvarul Murugan Baktha Sabai Trust, represented by its president P Thandeeswaran, stated in the petition that the government passed a GO on July 29, imposing a blanket prohibition against use of government school premises for religious purposes.
The GO does not make any distinction between ordinary religious functions from long-standing charitable, cultural and heritage practices. As a result, it prevents the trust from conducting the feast which has been conducted in the school ground since 2000, he added.
During the annual feast, nearly 10,000 devotees are served food through voluntary contributions received from the public. Since the event is conducted only once a year during the school vacation, educational activities of the institution would not be disrupted, he further added.
Therefore, instead of total prohibition, the authorities could permit the events by imposing reasonable restrictions to ensure sanitation of the premises and public safety, among others, he suggested.
A bench of justices P Velmurugan and KK Ramakrishnan, which heard the petition recently, observed that the GO only stipulates a general restriction and does not mention the particular feast. The petitioner fears that the GO would be applied to prohibit the said event, even though no such orders have been passed by the authorities, they added. Holding that the petitioner’s apprehension is premature, they dismissed the PIL.
PIL for 2-day weekly off for public, pvt sector dismissed
Madurai: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has dismissed a PIL filed seeking formulation of a uniform policy guaranteeing two-day mandatory weekly off for all public and private sector workers across the state.
A bench of justices P Velmurugan and KK Ramakrishnan observed that the relief sought is purely the prerogative of the state government. S Bhaskar, a retired auditor from Dindigul, stated in his petition that he has designed a ‘Rotational Labour Sharing Model’ under which large-scale private industries can remain functional for 6 to 7 days a week despite granting two days weekly off to their employees on a rotational basis.
This would help in creating new employment opportunities in the state without imposing financial burden on the state exchequer, he added. Moreover, implementing this two-day rest period would increase employee productivity by 20-30% and also boost the State GDP through increased consumer spending, he claimed. Though he sent a representation to the CM’s Cell in this regard, no action has been taken on his proposal, he added.