Madras High Court Takes Action Against Chief Secretaries

Chennai Court Shows Displeasure Over Ignoring Court Orders

The Madras High Court has begun contempt proceedings against Tamil Nadu’s chief secretaries. The court is unhappy with how the chief secretary ignored court orders.

Court’s Strong Statements

Justice Battu Devanand stated, “This court is very upset. The chief secretary did not respect the court orders. They did not follow the orders properly.”

The court also said, “If the chief secretary, who leads the state executive, does not follow court orders, we cannot expect his officers to do so.”

Case Background

The court made this decision based on four petitions. These petitions were about the compassionate appointment scheme from 1972 to 2023. The court was hearing requests from the legal heirs of deceased government employees. They were against the issues in carrying out the Tamil Nadu Civil Service rules for compassionate appointments.

Court’s Instructions

• The court told the state to think about keeping a state-wise list of dependents for compassionate appointments.
• The state was asked to get a report from the committee within two months.
• The chief secretary was ordered to put an action taken report before the court within three months.

Failure to Follow Orders

On June 6, the court found that no report was filed within the given time. The court said, “The chief secretary failed to follow the court’s order properly.”

The court noticed that authorities often file appeals only after contempt cases are filed. The court said, “It is the right of the respondents to file appeals, but they must do so within the given time.”

Next Court Date

The court has set the next hearing for June 20.