CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has set aside a single judge’s order directing payment of Rs 50,000 and 8 grams of gold under a scrapped welfare scheme.
The State government filed the appeal challenging a September 2025 order of a single judge that had directed the authorities to grant Rs 50,000 and 8 grams of gold to the respondent, J Praveena, under the Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar Memorial Marriage Assistance Scheme.
The State contended that the scheme had been restructured into the Higher Education Assurance Scheme and that no financial sanction was granted for applications pending from 2018–2022.
When the matter was heard before a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan, the court allowed the writ appeal filed by the State government and ruled that policy decisions of the State, including restructuring of welfare schemes, must be respected unless proven arbitrary.
The bench noted that the respondent had not challenged the policy decision itself and therefore could not claim benefits under the now-defunct scheme. Finding the single judge’s direction legally unsustainable, the court allowed the appeal and dismissed the writ petition.