The Madras High Court has sought the response of the State government to a writ petition challenging the validity of a Government Order passed on June 14 nominating 22 individuals as members of the general council of the Tamil Nadu Eyal Isai Nataka Mandram, a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture.
Justice M. Duraiswamy ordered notices to the Tourism, Culture and Religious Endowments Department as well as the Directorate on the petition filed by Vazhuvoor Ravi, a former member of the Mandram, who contended that the members of the general council should only be elected and not nominated by the State.
According to the petitioner, he had filed a similar writ petition in 2014 seeking a direction to the government to conduct elections for filling up the vacancies in the general council. Even as that petition was pending, the government chose to amend the constitution of the Mandram and introduced a new procedure of nominating the members.
Subsequently, he filed another writ petition in 2015 challenging the amendment. The court ordered notice to the State in the second case and a counter affidavit was also filed. Nevertheless, without waiting for the result of the case, the government went ahead and nominated the members thereby exhibiting “authoritarian and dictatorial attitude,” he alleged.
