MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that sought a direction to implement clause 7 of the 1886 agreement of Mullaiperiyar Dam, which pertained to creating access to the dam through Vallakadavu land route.
The litigant Er S R Rengan, who is the secretary of Tamil Nadu PWD Senior Engineers Association, Madurai Branch, filed the petition by claiming that the above clause has been declared valid by the Supreme Court by an order dated May 7, 2014.
But a Bench of justices SS Sundar and D Bharatha Chakravarthy observed that the issue has already been settled by the Supreme Court in the above-mentioned order and hence the PIL cannot be entertained. "This apart, every aspect of the safety of the dam and access, etc., in respect of the dam has been taken care of by the aforesaid judgment and a Supervisory Committee has also been formed by the Supreme Court to periodically give instructions to both the States (Tamil Nadu and Kerala)," the judges observed and dismissed the petition.
Three more PILs filed seeking various directions in connection with the dam were dismissed by the above division bench last week for similar reasons.
HC helps man rectify date of birth in passport
Observing that an entry in the passport must conform to the details in the birth certificate, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court granted relief to a man who filed a petition eight years ago against the rejection of his request to correct his date of birth entry in his passport.
Pointing out that the man, Abdul Rahman, has submitted his birth certificate which mentioned the correct date of birth, Justice GR Swaminathan said, "It is true that the passport is a solemn document and the applicant must offer correct particulars at the time of application. But sometimes, errors do happen. The petitioner has enclosed his certificate of birth issued by the competent authority and it is seen therefrom that the petitioner was born on September 18, 1960. When the birth certificate has been produced, the passport entry must conform to the birth certificate."
The judge allowed the petition by directing Rahman to submit a fresh application with a certified copy of his birth certificate to the authorities, with further directions to the latter to make necessary corrections in the passport.