The Registrar Judicial v. The Joint Commissioner
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT DATED : 01.10.2024 CORAM :
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE R.SUBRAMANIAN and THE HONOURABLE MRS.JUSTICE L.VICTORIA GOWRI SUO MOTU CONTEMPT PETITION(MD)No.2100 of 2024 in W.A(MD)No.1444 of 2024 The Registrar (Judicial), Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, Madurai.
... Petitioner vs.
The Joint Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department, Madurai.
... Respondent Prayer : Suo Motu Contempt Petition initiated under Section 14 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 read with Article 215 of the Constitution of India, to punish the contemnor / respondent No.2 for his / her deliberate disobedience of the orders of this Court.
For Respondent : Mr.S.P.Maharajan Special Government Pleader Page No.1 of 4
ORDER
(Order of the Court was made by R.SUBRAMANIAN, J.) Mr.K.Chelladurai, Regional Joint Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department, Madurai, has filed an affidavit, in and by which, he has stated that he has passed the order dated 12.09.2024 under a wrong impression that he is entitled to go into the qualifications of the person who seeks approval as Hereditary Trustee under sub-section (1) of Section 54 of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959. He has also stated that he has withdrawn those proceedings and issued fresh proceedings after knowing the correct legal position. 2.
The corrected proceedings dated 30.09.2024 have also been placed before us. We are sure that the statement made in paragraph 4 of the affidavit is not fully true, because, Mr.Chelladurai, Regional Joint Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department, Madurai, is a Law Graduate with sufficient experience as an Assistant Commissioner and Joint Commissioner in the HR & CE Department. His ego was hurt when this Court overruled his objections and directed him to recognise Thiru.Alagappan as the Hereditary Trustee. He wanted to give it back to this Court by stating that even though Thiru.Alagappan is not a fit person to be recognised as a Hereditary Page No.2 of 4
Trustee, he is forced to recognise him, because, this Court has directed him to recognise the said Alagappan as the Hereditary Trustee. This, we see as nothing but an attempt to indirectly tell this Court that the officials can do anything under the sun and they will not hesitate to even malign this Court by imputing motives and misunderstanding of the provisions of law to this Court. 3.
Any way, since now the order has been complied with, we close the contempt with a direction to the contemnor to pay a cost of Rs.5,000/- [Rupees Five Thousand only] to the appellants / writ petitioners within a period of two weeks from today. The cost so imposed shall not be treated as any fine and will not have any impact on the service of the officer concerned. (R.S.M, J.) (L.V.G, J.) Index : No 01.10.2024 : No bala To
1. The Registrar (Judicial), Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, Madurai.
2. The Joint Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department, Madurai.
Page No.3 of 4
R.SUBRAMANIAN, J.
and L.VICTORIA GOWRI, J.
bala ORDER MADE IN SUO MOTU CONT.P(MD)No.2100 of 2024 DATED : 01.10.2024 Page No.4 of 4