MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has granted an interim stay to the proceedings of the lower court in a case filed by the State government seeking nod to confiscate granite blocks of Gem Granites.
The stay has been granted following a petition filed by the Gem Granites.
In their petition, the Managing Partners of Gem Granites stated that they had been charged under Section 4(1-A) of the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act 1957 based on a complaint from the Madurai Collector.
Veera Kathiravan, the counsel for the petitioner argued that the Collector had not even mentioned in his complaint whether he was permitted by the State Government to file a private complaint under the Mines and Minerals Act.
Further, mere possession of granite blocks would not constitute an offence under criminal jurisprudence and when the complaint did not disclose the role played by the petitioners, there was no offence committed as per the charging sections.
Hence, he sought to stay the proceedings of the lower court and also pleaded to dispense with the personal appearance of the petitioners.
Hearing the plea, Justice N Kirubakaran issued notice to the Madurai Collector and posted the matter to October 12.
Further, the Judge ordered an interim stay to the lower Court proceedings, till that time and also dispensed with the personal appearance of the petitioners.
Ex-Min daughter’s Bail Plea Put off
Madurai: The Madurai Bench of Madras HC on Tuesday adjourned the bail plea of Indira, daughter of former DMK Minister I Periyasamy, who was arrested in connection with the murder of a Madurai-based real estate businessman, to Oct 6.