B.Ramkumar Adityan v. Chief Secretary

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

DATED: 20.05.2021 CORAM :

THE HON'BLE MR.SANJIB BANERJEE, CHIEF JUSTICE AND THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE SENTHILKUMAR RAMAMOORTHY W.P.NO.12036 OF 2021 B.Ramkumar Adityan ... Petitioner Vs 1 Chief Secretary Government of Tamil Nadu St. George Fort 2 Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare Department Government of Tamil Nadu St.George Fort ... Respondents Prayer:

Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of a Writ of Mandamus directing the respondent No.1 and 2nd to direct all the Government Departments Directorates Commissionerates Undertakings Boards to upload and update all the Central and Tamil Nadu State Acts and Rules Old and New Government Orders (G.Os) Notifications Press Releases Announcements Guidelines properly and regularly in the website of the 1st respondent in URL https//www.tn.gov.in/ and the 2nd respondent in https//stopcorona.tn.gov.in/ and other respective official websites including all the COVID-19 Advisorys for Staffs and Public Expert Opinions and SOPs. For Petitioner :

Mr.S.Sankar For Respondents:

Mr.R.Shanmughasundaram, Advocate-General, Assisted by Mr.R.Neelakandan, State Government Advocate

ORDER

(made by the Hon'ble Chief Justice) The writ petition is of the limited scope and the petitioner seeks that all Government orders and instructions issued pertaining to Covid-19 should be uploaded and available for everyone to see on the official website.

2. Learned Advocate-General appears for the State and accepts notice. According to the State, some of the Departments are functioning with skeletal staff because several staff have been hit by the virus and notifications may not have been uploaded; but, by and large, all Government orders and notifications published on Covid-19 are available on the official website of the State Government.

3. The State should ensure that all the Government Orders pertaining to Covid-19 are available in a chronological order on the website of the State at www.tn.gov.in and also at the special website, stopcorona.tn.gov.in.

4. Since the scope of the petition is limited and the State Government has indicated its stand, nothing further remains of the matter. It is hoped that the future Government Orders and notifications pertaining to matters related to the pandemic are also similarly published in a chronological order and available at the press of a key. These orders and notifications affect private citizens and may be necessary for various purposes.

5. W.P.No.12036 of 2021 is disposed of. There will be no order as to costs.

Sd/- Assistant Registrar(V.O) //True Copy// Sub Assistant Registrar tar To:

1 The Chief Secretary Government of Tamil Nadu, St.George Fort

2. Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare Department Government of Tamil Nadu St. George Fort +1cc to the Government Pleader, S.R.No.27283 W.P.No.12036 of 2021 VBM(CO) CS/11/06/2021