MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition seeking direction to the Madurai district authorities not to permit setting up of mandagapadis after private individuals or caste organisations, during the upcoming Chithirai festival.
A bench of justices R Suresh Kumar and G Arul Murugan refused to grant the relief sought by the litigant by observing that the court cannot interfere with the said process merely based on the apprehensions of the litigant especially when he has not produced any concrete materials to substantiate them.
The litigant C Selvakumar, an advocate from Madurai, stated that he made an RTI application seeking information on the private shrines which have been granted permission to set up mandagapadis during the upcoming Chithirai festival. But the said information was not furnished to him, he claimed. Stating that only traditional shrines and those authorised by the government should be permitted to establish mandagapadis and that permitting private organisations and individuals would lead to discrimination, he sought the above direction.
However, the government counsel informed that the said festival was being conducted for the past several years and no such complaints have been raised so far. Applications for setting up mandagapadis are considered based on merits and 483 mandagapadis have been permitted as of now, he added and termed the litigant's allegations baseless.