PIL seeking top honour for Jayalalithaa rejected

The First Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M. Sundar before whom the PIL filed by Tamil Nadu Centre for Public Interest Litigation came up for hearing dismissed it after holding that “The award of Bharat Ratna to any person falls within the domain of the executive function and it is not for the court to issue directions as to who should be given the award or not.” 

The petitioner had sought the Court to direct the Union Home Secretary and relevant committee to announce the High National Award of Bharat Ratna to J Jayalalilthaa by considering his representation, which is a reflection of what people all over India want. He submitted that besides garnering awards like Tamil Nadu State Film fare award for best actress and others, she was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu five times. He also noted that as Chief Minister her priority was to uplift the poor. 

As Chief Minister, she had introduced many welfare schemes including Amma Canteens and distributed lap-tops and cycles for under-privileged students. He also claimed that the failure of the Government to respond to his plea sent on December 15, had led him to approach the court.