Madras High Court dismisses petition on VTI president

The Madras High Court has dismissed as withdrawn a petition seeking to quash an order of the secretary, handlooms and handicrafts department.

The order of September 5 related to the appointment of a former High Court Judge, A. Raman, as president of the governing council of the Victoria Technical Institute (VTI) here.

The petitioner, A. Nageswaran, honorary secretary of VTI, contended that there was no scope for nominating the president. The post could be filled up only after holding an election by the members of the society, numbering 15, who were entitled to vote.

In the order, a division bench comprising Justices Elipe Dharma Rao and Aruna Jagadeesan said that in exercise of the powers conferred under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, the Governor had provided that for certain classes of registered societies, members to the committees of those societies could be nominated by the government without an election.

To that effect, the government had issued a notification on November 6. In view of this, the petitioner’s counsel sought permission to withdraw the writ petition with liberty to file a fresh petition.

Hence, the court said, it was dismissing the petition as withdrawn with liberty to file a fresh petition.