Plastic use to come under strict vigil during elections

The first bench comprising Chief justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Puspha Sathyanarayan has issued notice to the State Election Commission and the Pollution Control Board returnable by March 1 on the steps evolved to ban it. 

High Court advocate Suryaprakasam, had moved a public interest litigation in this regard, prompting the Chief Justice to raise a pointed question on the measures taken by both the election commission and pollution control board to ban the use of plastic flags and banners during polls. 

The petitioner had contended that rampant use of plastics in the form of flags and banners during the polls is bound to have an adverse impact on the environment and needs to be stopped. 

The Madras High Court has come down heavily on the Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in Delhi and other Government agencies for auctioning and demolishing a woman’s house in Chennai despite her not taking a loan from any financial institution. Justice A Selvam suspecting conspiracy and collusion among the agencies involved has ordered a CBI probe into the sordid episode. S. Indira had bought the house at Kasturba Nagar in Adyar in 1974. 

She had subsequently rented it out to one V S Krishnan about 30 years ago. However, on seeing an auction notice on the house wall, Indira sent a legal notice to the recovery officer of DRT-I in Delhi.  She had explained that she was the owner and it was her tenant Krishnan’s Maha Krishna Financial Services Ltd, which had financial transaction with, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA) and hence the proposed auction can’t go on. 

Pulling up everyone involved in the exercise, Justice Selvam said “simply because DRT is having statutory protection, the court cannot close its eyes in a case like this without directing CBI to conduct investigation. It is pathetic to note that the petitioner has lost her property for no mistake of her.” 

The suspension of advocates for their alleged ‘unruly behaviour’ hots up further. Serving another blow to their cause, the disciplinary committee of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, refused to stay or revoke the suspension of 10 lawyers on the basis that it had no jurisdiction to decide on the issue. Out of the 44 advocates serving suspension for various acts of professional misconduct, as many as 10 of them had approached the bar council seeking a stay on prohibitiory orders imposed on them. 

Actor Simbu’s failure to appear before the police today as directed by the Madras High Court in connection with the ‘beep song row’ has led to a fresh order. This time, the MHC has directed the actor  to appear before both the Coimbatore police and the Central Crime Branch of the Chennai City police on or before January 29. Justice B Rajendran passed the order after Simbu’s counsel pleaded his inability to be present before the police on Monday.