The Supreme Court has asked the Madras High Court to consider afresh a plea by K. Karthikeyan, whose appointment as member-secretary of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board was struck down by the High Court.
In a short order dated February 23, a Bench of Justices Vikramjit Sen and Shiva Kirti Singh requested the High Court “to take up the matter afresh and decide the interim application of the petitioner [Karthikeyan] before this court expeditiously, preferably within a period of three weeks from today”.
In his special leave petition, Mr. Karthikeyan, represented by senior advocate K. Ramamoorthy, contended that the “government/appointing authority is the best judge with regard to the suitability of the candidates for appointment of technical members of specialised bodies” and the High Court ought not to question the “wisdom of the government”.
The petition claimed that Mr. Karthikeyan “has been in employment of the TNPCB since 1986 and without any allegations and has an unblemished record”.
The Supreme Court order did not go into the merits of the case, but merely took note of Mr. Karthikeyan's contention that his lawyer was not heard by the High Court.
