Official blames subordinates for construction of toilet near statue

Jayashree Muralidharan, Additional Secretary to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, has informed the Madras High Court here that she had inaugurated a public toilet, constructed near a statue of Dravidar Kazhagam founder ‘Periyar’ E.V. Ramasamy at Pullambadi town panchayat in Tiruchi district, on January 30, 2014, despite a status quo ordered by the court on August 13, 2013, due to a lapse on the part of town panchayat officials.

In an affidavit filed in response to a suo motu contempt of court proceedings initiated against her by a Division Bench of Justices S. Nagamuthu and M.V. Muralidaran, Ms. Muralidharan claimed that the issue of the toilet having been constructed close to statue was not brought to her notice at all either by the town panchayat or the Assistant Director (AD) of Town Panchayat when she served as the Collector of Tiruchi during the relevant point of time.

She said that M. Thirunavukkarasu, an office-bearer of DK, who had filed a writ petition and obtained an order of

status quo , had initially made a representation, against the construction of the toilet near the statue, to the Chief Minister’s Special Cell, Tiruchi Collector and the Executive Officer of Pulambadi town panchayat. The Collectorate had received the petition on February 11, 2013, and forwarded it to AD, Town Panchayats. The AD received it on February 20, 2013 and called for a report from the Executive Officer. “The Assistant Director, Town Panchayats, neither informed me about the petition nor the above indicated report of the Executive Officer,” Ms. Muralidharan said.

In so far as the Chief Minister having inaugurated the toilet complex through video conferencing after the order of status quo passed by the court was concerned, Ms. Muralidharan said: “I have verified the file and found that the list of NABARD projects completed by the Town Panchayats have been communicated by the Assistant Director of Town Panchayats to the Director of Panchayats by email on December 20, 2013.

“The Director of Town Panchayats, without the knowledge of the interim orders of this honourable court, has communicated to the government and the building was declared officially opened. It is a lapse on the part of the Assistant Director of Town Panchayats and the then Executive Officer of Pullambadi Town Panchayat. Neither the Collectorate nor myself had any role to play in the above said communication.”

Nevertheless, since she was the head of the district administration at the relevant point of time, she tendered unconditional apology to the court if it felt that she was guilty of contempt of court. Additional Advocate General B. Pugalendhi submitted that the authorities were ready to either shift the statue to some other place or build a high rise wall between it and the toilet complex which could not be used for any other purpose since it had been constructed under NABARD scheme.

After hearing him, the judges adjourned the case to Thursday at the request of the counsel for the petitioner.