In its 15th year, Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court delivered many significant orders in 2018 related to environment, woman and child welfare, development, temple restoration, prisoner’s rights and conservation of waterbodies.
The year began with a contempt petition filed in January seeking a response from the Centre on the location of AIIMS in Tamil Nadu. The suspense finally ended in December with the Union Cabinet approving Thoppur in Madurai as the location.
The plastic ban in public spaces was first mooted by the High Court Bench when it ordered a ban on carrying mobile phones into the iconic Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple. Following a fire incident in the eastern corridor of the temple, the court also observed that plastics should not be allowed inside to keep a check on sanitation and safety.
The court, in a bid to enhance safety measures at temples across the State, ordered the removal of shops within the temple premises. It also directed district judges to inspect the temples and file a report on their condition.
Mid year saw Thoothukudi erupt in protests. The residents got together to oppose Vedanta’s plan to expand Sterlite Copper. The public even moved the High Court to stall the expansion. The 100th day of the anti-Sterlite protest witnessed police firing in which 13 lives were lost. A legal battle followed with activists, residents and advocates coming together seeking justice. The court heard the cases almost on a day-to-day basis, before transferring them to CBI for investigation. It granted bail to activists and quashed the detention of some of them under the National Security Act.
The final quarter of the year witnessed a number of petitions on environment issues. Pleas challenging the notification of Megamalai as a reserve forest were dismissed. Temple elephant Masini was ordered to be restored to its natural habitat at Theppakadu camp in Mudumalai forest. Monitoring of sand mining was ordered. Wildlife Crime Control Bureau probe was ordered into the elephant deaths in Megamalai. The court also directed the Centre and State to take up measures to remove commercial trees from reserve forests.
Touching upon the issue of sanitation, the court took up a number of news reports as suo motu PIL petitions and sought for response from Madurai Corporation to look into the issues. Direction was given for removal of encroachments from waterbodies to save them for the future generations. An Environmental Fund was created to take care of the HC Bench campus.
The audio tape scandal case involving a college teacher sent shock waves across the country. Bail was denied to the key accused, Nirmala Devi, who is said to have attempted to lure girl students into offering certain favours in return for academic gains. The court denied bail to the three accused in the case, all of whom are currently lodged in the Madurai central prison.
Other significant orders of the year include, a direction to prison authorities to re-visit the prison rules to accommodate women and third gender in open prisons. A 11-year-old girl was allowed to terminate pregnancy but it was denied for a 12-year-old after taking cognisance of medical reports.
A prisoner was allowed to go on a two-week leave for ‘purpose of procreation’. The court called it a human right. Coming to the aid of single mothers, it said that father’s name need not be mentioned in a child's birth certificate. In December, the Court stalled the Art of Living Foundation from going ahead with its proposed event inside the Sri Brihadeeshwarar Temple in Thanjavur, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The court directed interim relief for Cyclone Gaja-affected people and ordered strict implementation of the plastic ban order in Madurai.
Published - December 30, 2018 10:23 pm IST
