The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday granted permission for the conduct of a homage to the victims of Thoothukudi firing on May 22.
A Division Bench of Justices G.R. Swaminathan and M. Dhandapani allowed the conduct of the event in Thoothukudi after the list of speakers, venue and the total number of participants were submitted to the court.
With the State rejecting the initial choice of St. Joseph Church’s marriage hall as the venue, the court allowed the conduct of the event at Bell hotel, Thoothukudi, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. It was submitted that a total of 250 participants would take part in the event. Ten speakers would address the gathering. The court rejected the State’s opposition to the list of speakers.
The petitioner, activist R. Fatima Babu, gave an undertaking to the effect that the participants of the event would be registered and the whole event would be videographed. Ms. Fatima, in the petition, claimed that though she had sent a representation to the authorities concerned seeking permission, they had failed to respond to the application.