Don’t act till Jan 3 on plaint against DMK MLA, advocates: HC
Chennai: The Madras High Court has directed the Elephant Gate police not to act till January 3, on a complaint alleging intimidation and threat to life over the purchase of private property, against DMK MLA Sekar Babu and three advocates and their henchmen. Justice R Mahadevan gave a direction to this effect when the revision petitions from Sekar Babu and seven other accused came up for hearing, on Monday. When the matter came up before Justice Mahadevan, State Public Prosecutor A Natarajan told the judge that already, based on the direction of the VIII Metropolitan Magistrate in George Town ordering probe on the complaint under section 156(3) CrPC, the Elephant Gate police had registered an FIR against all the eight accused. The counsel for complainant Rajkumar of Choolai informed the judge that since several accused involved in the case are advocates, he had made a mention before a division bench headed by Justice N Kirubakaran, which was specially constituted to hear cases against advocates and has also obtained a slip to list this petition before that bench. Taking note of this, Justice Mahadevan directed the Elephant Gate police not to take further action in this case until January 3, when the division bench would hear the matter.
Order reserved on plea to remove Governor
Chennai: A division bench of the Madras High Court has reserved its order on a plea seeking for directions to the Centre to ‘remove’ Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit from his position for not taking action on the recommendations of the State Cabinet to release all seven accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case for well over a year. In his petition, Kannadasan of the Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam alleged that all the seven accused in the case, have been kept. in illegal detention ever since September 9, 2018, when the State Cabinet had recommended to the Governor to release them. The Governor was bound to act but did not pass any order till date. He must be removed, petitioner contended.
Hearing resumes in Sterlite case
Chennai: Arguments on the writ petitions of Vedanta challenging orders of the State government to close down its copper smelter unit in Thoothukudi resumed after a gap of about three months before the same bench of Justices T S Sivagnanam and V Bhavani Subbaroyan, on Monday. Senior advocate Aryama Sundaram, representing Vedanta, began his arguments hitting at the closure orders. His contention was that only a court is bestowed with necessary powers to order closure of an industrial unit. The arguments will continue on Tuesday.
Proceedings against card players quashed
Chennai: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has set aside the proceedings against a batch of over 100 persons, against whom the respective police in the districts have registered cases for playing cards in clubs on stakes. Accepting the arguments of Abudukumar Rajarathinam, Justice G K Ilanthiraiyan observed that playing cards with stakes is not an offence under the TN Gaming Act. Playing cards in any ‘gaming house’ alone is an offence under the Act. The Clubs in which the accused had played cards are not ‘gaming’ under the purview of common gaming house, the judge said. In the case on hand, except the recovery of playing cards and money from the persons, no other incriminating material was seized from the place of occurrence to show that the accused persons have any direct or indirect connection with a common gaming house which was run by the accused for profit or gain, the judge pointed out.