S.Selvambal v. The Principal Secretary To Government
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED : 18.04.2023
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE M.SUNDAR and THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE M.NIRMAL KUMAR S.Selvambal .. Petitioner Vs 1.The Principal Secretary to Government, Home Department, Secretariat, Chennai - 9.
2.The Registrar General, High Court, Madras.
3.The District Collector, Erode District, Erode - 638 011.
4.The Principal District Judge, Erode - 638 011, Erode District.
.. Respondents Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to consider the representations dated 08.11.2022, 03.12.2022 and 09.12.2022 regarding constitution of proposed District Munsif cum Judicial Magistrate Court temporarily at Modakurichi in Erode District. Page Nos.1/23
For Petitioner :
Mr.T.N.Rajagopalan for Mr.G.Thirumurugan For Respondents :
Mr.J.Ravindran, Addl. Advocate General assisted by Mr.S.John J.Raja Singh, Addl. Govt. Pleader for R1 & R3 Mr.V.Vijay Shankar for R2 and R4
ORDER
[Order of the Court was made by M.SUNDAR, J.,] This order will now dispose of the captioned writ petition. 2.
This order has to be read in conjunction with and in continuation of earlier proceedings made in the previous listings on 28.03.2023 and 11.04.2023 which read as follows: '28.03.2023 Captioned writ petition has been filed as a 'Public Interest Litigation' ['PIL' for the sake of brevity].
2. The petitioner is one S.Selvambal, elected President of Modakurichi Town Panchayat.
3. Mr.T.N.Rajagopalan, learned counsel appearing on behalf of counsel on record for the petitioner submits Page Nos.2/23
that Modakurichi Town Panchayat has a population i.e., citizenry of about 10000. Central theme of the captioned PIL is, location of District Munsif-cum-Judicial Magistrate Court in Erode District. To be noted, we are informed that reference to Erode District is Erode Judicial District and not Erode Revenue District. Learned counsel submits that first respondent has made an Executive order i.e., 'G.O.Ms.432, Home (Courts-III) Department, dated 11.08.2022' (hereinafter 'said G.O' for the sake of convenience and clarity) for constitution of four District Munsif-cum-Judicial Magistrate Courts. It is further submitted that on 14.09.2022, Modakurichi Town Panchayat passed a resolution to the effect that 5.90 acres of land will be handed over to the Judicial Department for establishing said Court.
4. When things stood as above, there was a move to set up the said Court in Ezhumathur is learned counsel's say. Learned counsel submitted that while Modakurichi is a Taluk with a population of 10000, Ezhumathur is a Panchayat with a population of less than 1000. It is also pointed out that infrastructure is already available in Modakurichi.
5. The petitioner has sent as many as three representations [dated 08.11.2022, 03.12.2022 and 09.12.2022] to the respondents but it has not evoked Page Nos.3/23
any reply or response is learned counsel's say.
6. This Court having set out the central theme and bare minimum elaboration qua the same now proceeds to capture the trajectory of the hearing.
7. We turned to the counsel who were waiting to accept notice (if we are inclined to issue notice) as the narrative thus far leaves us with the view that the petitioner has made out a prima facie case as regards the issue of where said Court should be situate. Therefore, we deem it appropriate to hear the respondents though the PIL petitioner has sought a innocuous mandamus qua representations. To be noted, learned counsel for petitioner submits that some more information has been obtained by the Right to Information (RTI) Act route and there shall be a little more allusion to this elsewhere infra in this order.
8. Issue notice regarding admission.
9. Mr.S.John J Raja Singh, learned Additional Government Pleader accepted notice for Respondents 1 and 3. Mr.V.Vijay Shankar, learned counsel accepted notice for Respondents 2 and 4.
10. The Government Pleader and learned counsel Page Nos.4/23
for Respondents 2 and 4 submitted that they need to get instructions before responding to the points that have been raised by the PIL petitioner. Both learned counsel sought two weeks time to get instructions and revert to us. This request is acceded to making it clear that respondents shall maintain status quo as of today i.e, status quo with regard to situation of said Court. To add clarity to this interim order of status quo, we make it clear that the respondent shall not do anything in the direction of inaugurating or commencing said Court either in Modakurichi or in Ezhumathur or in any other place. The reason for this interim status quo order though petitioner has not filed any miscellaneous petition for interim order, this is a PIL concerning larger public interest where prima facie case has been made out and precipitating the matter can lead to a irreversible scenario.
11. Be that as it may, we also deem it appropriate to record the following:
a) Learned counsel for petitioner submitted that aforementioned three representations find a mention in the prayer but the petitioner has actually sent as many as eight representations;
b) It is submitted by learned counsel for petitioner, on instructions that some information has Page Nos.5/23
been obtained under 'the Right to Information Act, 2005' ['RTI Act' for the sake of brevity] regarding the infrastructure available now in Modakurichi and the other place, namely Ezhumathur.
12. Learned counsel sought time to file the same by way of a typed-set of papers and bring it on Board before us. Request acceded to. Let advance copies be given to the counsel who have accepted notice for the respondents.
13. In the light of the request of the learned State counsel and learned counsel who has accepted notice for the respondents, list this matter a fortnight hence. List on 11.04.2023.'
'11.04.2023 Read this in conjunction with and in continuation of earlier proceedings made in the previous listing on 28.03.2023.
2. Mr.T.N.Rajagopalan, learned counsel appearing on behalf of counsel on record for the petitioner is before us. Mr.S.John J Raja Singh, learned Additional Government Pleader led by Mr.J.Ravindran, learned Additional Advocate General for Respondents 1, 3 and Mr.V.Vijay Shankar, learned counsel for Respondents 2 and 4 are before us. Both the counsel for respondents requests for further time to get instructions and place Page Nos.6/23
the same in writing before this Court. Request acceded to.
3. Interim order of status-quo made in the order/proceedings in the previous listing, more particularly Paragraph 10 thereat will continue to operate till the next listing.
At request of respondents, list on 18.04.2023.' 3.
Pursuant to aforementioned earlier orders, today the second respondent has filed a counter affidavit dated 17.04.2023 though it is captioned counter affidavit, considering that this is a PIL, we choose to construe the same as a report/stated position of the second respondent.
4.
Be that as it may, Mr.V.Vijay Shankar, learned counsel represents respondents 2 and 4. As regards respondents 1 and 3 (Executive arm), Mr.J.Ravindran, learned Additional Advocate General and senior counsel instructed by Mr.S.John J.Raja Singh, learned Additional Government Pleader is before us. Mr.T.N.Rajagopalan, learned counsel appearing on behalf of counsel on record for the petitioner, is also before us.
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5.
We heard all the aforementioned counsel/senior counsel and Additional Advocate General.
6.
There are averments in the counter affidavit of the second respondent inter-alia in paragraph 3(x) as well as paragraphs 5 and 6 to the effect that the representations of the PIL petitioner have been duly considered but whether all the three representations were before the second respondent while taking the decision is not clear. Therefore, this question is left open in this order for being gone into if there are other/further proceedings for which rights/contentions are being preserved as would be evident from allusions infra. 7.
We find that the prayer in the writ petition is for a mandamus to consider three representations sent by the petitioner dated 08.11.2022, 03.12.2022 and 09.12.2022 as already captured in the earlier proceedings. These three representations shall be referred to as 'I representation', 'II representation' and 'III representation' respectively. We deem it appropriate to scan and reproduce I representation, II representation and III representation for convenience, clarity and specificity.
Page Nos.8/23
I representation Page Nos.9/23
Page Nos.10/23
Page Nos.11/23
Page Nos.12/23
Page Nos.13/23
II Representation:
Page Nos.14/23
Page Nos.15/23
Page Nos.16/23
III Representation:
Page Nos.17/23
Page Nos.18/23
Page Nos.19/23
8.
As regards respondents 1 and 3, learned Additional Advocate General on instructions submits that the representations of the PIL petitioner are under active consideration of the State and the same would be disposed of as expeditiously as the business of the respondents would permit and in any event on or before 31.05.2023. This submission is recorded. The aforementioned counter affidavit dated 17.04.2023 filed by second respondent (which is being treated as report/stated position of second respondent) shall now and henceforth be treated as proceedings of second respondent disposing off I, II and III representations. To be noted learned counsel for petitioner has been favoured with a copy of the counter affidavit. 9.
Therefore considering the facts and circumstances of the case, nature of the matter and the perimeter of the prayer, we deem it appropriate to dispose of the captioned WP by making the following order:
(a) I representation, II representation and III representation dated 08.11.2022, 03.11.2022 and 09.112022 respectively shall be disposed of by one common order/proceedings by the first respondent on or before 31.05.2023;
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(b) Aforementioned exercise of disposal of the representations by the first respondent shall be (qua the three representations) on their own merits and in accordance with law;
(c) A copy of the proceedings/orders disposing of the representations to be made by the first respondent shall be duly served on the PIL petitioner under due acknowledgement on or before 05.06.2023;
(d) Status quo which this Court has directed to maintain vide paragraph 10 of the aforementioned 28.03.2023 proceedings/orders and continued vide paragraph 3 of 11.04.2023 proceedings/orders, shall continue to operate and shall continue further for a fortnight from 05.06.2023 i.e., upto 19.06.2023; (e) The aforementioned directive/interim order is to enable any aggrieved party to assail the disposal if it becomes necessary as the exercise will be rendered futile if the matter is precipitated before exercise of such rights; (f) We make it clear that the proceedings of first respondent to be made before 31.05.2023 together with the aforementioned counter affidavit of second respondent dated 17.04.2023 shall be treated as disposal of I, II and III representations by first and second respondents and challenge (if any) shall be on this basis and therefore it is made clear that disposal of captioned writ petition shall not be construed as expression of any opinion on counter affidavit of second respondent dated 17.04.2023 and it is Page Nos.21/23
further made clear that we have not expressed any view or opinion in this order on the counter affidavit of the second respondent;
(g) Though obvious we make it clear that if the proceedings are assailed by any party i.e., the proceedings/orders of first respondent to be made and stated position of second respondent vide counter dated 17.04.2023, the same will be tested on its own merits and in accordance with law and we reiterate that the question that has been left open will be available in such a legal drill if the need arises.
10.
Captioned WP is disposed of in the aforesaid manner with the aforesaid directives. There shall be no order as to costs. (M.S.,J.) (M.N.K.,J.) 18.04.2023 Index : Yes / No mmi To 1.The Principal Secretary to Government, Home Department, Secretariat, Chennai - 9.
2.The Registrar General, High Court, Madras.
3.The District Collector, Erode District, Erode - 638 011.
4.The Principal District Judge, Erode - 638 011, Erode District. Page Nos.22/23
M.SUNDAR, J., and M.NIRMAL KUMAR , J., mmi 18.04.2023 Page Nos.23/23