Madras High Court Weekly Round-Up: April 28 to May 04, 2025

NOMINAL INDEX

Indian Bank v. The Commercial Tax Officer, 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 156

State v. Durai Murugan and Others, 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 157

Shanmugavel v. The State, 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 158

State v. MRK Paneerselvam, 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 159

State v. I Periyasamy, 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 160

Vijayakumar v. State, 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 161

G Subramania Koushik v. The Principal Secretary, 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 162

M. Maheshwaran and others v. The Chairman & Managing Director and others, 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 163

J Manohar Dass v. Komathi and Others, 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 164

Bank of Baroda v. The Chairman and Others, 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 165

REPORT

Provisions Of Section 26E SARFAESI Act & Section 34 RDB Act Prevails Over Section 24 Of TNGST Act: Madras High Court

Case Title: Indian Bank v. The Commercial Tax Officer

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 156

The Madras High Court stated that provisions of Section 26E of the SARFAESI Act and Section 34 of the Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy Act would prevail over the provisions of Section 24 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act.

The Division Bench of Justices Anita Sumanth and G. Arul Murugan observed that “in the juxtaposition of Section 26E of the SARFAESI Act with Section 34 of the RDB Act, it is Section 26E of the SARFAESI Act that will provide the necessary impetus for determining the priority of a charge of security interest in favour of the Financial Institution, as Section 34 of the RDB Act is, by comparison, only a general provision.”

Madras High Court Sets Aside Discharge Of Minister Durai Murugan In Disproportionate Assets Case, Calls Special Court's Finding Perverse

Case Title: State v. Durai Murugan and Others

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 157

The Madras High Court has set aside the discharge of Tamil Nadu Minister Durai Murugan in a disproportionate asset case.

Justice P Velmurugan noted that the Special Court had simply allowed a discharge petition filed by the Minister without framing charges or without giving an opportunity to the Prosecution to put forward the case. The court also noted that the special judge had interpreted the facts in his own way and the reasons put forward by the Special Judge was perverse.

The court directed the Special Court to frame charges and proceed with the trial. Noting that the case was regarding the check period of 1996-2001, the court directed the Special Court to dispose the case within a period of 6 months from the date of order.

'CBI Officers Think They Have Sky High Powers, No One Can Question Them': Madras HC Suggests Revamping Probe Agency's Image

Case Title: Shanmugavel v. The State

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 158

The Madras High Court has issued suggestions to relook and revamp the manner in which the CBI investigations are being conducted in the country to regain the lost image of the investigation agency in the eyes of the common people.

Justice KK Ramakrishnan noted that the manner of CBI's working, in arraying unwanted accused, continuing unwarranted investigation, deleting important accused, not examining material witnesses, etc showed that the CBI officers thought themselves to have sky-high powers and could not be questioned by anyone. The court added that the common people have been feeling that the working culture of the CBI had been plummeting down.

Madras High Court Sets Aside Discharge Of Tamil Nadu Minister MRK Paneerselvam In Two Disproportionate Asset Cases

Case Title: State v. MRK Paneerselvam

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 159

The Madras High Court has set aside the discharge of Tamil Nadu Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Minister MRK Paneerlsevam in two disproportionate asset cases.

Justice P Velmurugan set aside the order passed by the Special Judge, Cuddalore in 2016, discharging the Minister from the case filed by the Department of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption. The case was registered alleging that while serving as a Minister for Health and Family Welfare during 2006-2011, he had acquired and possessed pecuniary resources and properties far beyond his known sources of income.

The court noted prima facie materials to proceed against the Minister and his family, who had abetted him in amassing the wealth. The court also remarked that the trial judge had traversed beyond the scope of Section 239 CrPC and thus set aside the order of the Special Judge.

Madras High Court Sets Aside Discharge of Tamil Nadu Minister I Periyasamy In Disproportionate Asset Case

Case Title: State v. I Periyasamy

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 160

The Madras High Court has set aside the discharge of Tamil Nadu Rural Development Minister I Periysamay in a disproportionate asset case.

Justice P Velmurugan set aside the order passed by the Special Judge, Dindigul, discharging the Minister and his family. The court directed the special court to frame charges against the accused person and complete the trial within 6 months.

The allegation against Periyasamy was that, while serving as the Minister for Revenue and Prisons between 2006 and 2011, he had accumulated wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income. As per the Department of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, the Minister was in possession of disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs. 2.01 crore and thus registered the case in 2012 under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

POCSO Offence Is Committed Against Society, Accepting Defence Of Subsequent Marriage With Victim Will Defeat Purpose Of Act: Madras HC

Case Title: Vijayakumar v. State

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 161

While reversing the acquittal of a man charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, the Madras High Court recently held that the defence of subsequent marriage between the victim and the accused does not take away the offence committed by the accused while the victim was a child.

Justice P Velmurugan observed that the offence under the POCSO Act was an offence against the society and not just the individual. He added that if the defence of subsequent marriage is accepted and the accused is acquitted, it would defeat the whole purpose of enactment of the Act and would lead to disastrous consequences.

Though the accused prayed for a lesser sentence saying that the victim was pregnant and there was no elder to take care of her, the court noted that it did not have any authority to give a punishment lesser than the one prescribed under the Special Act. The court thus sentenced the accused to undergo minimum sentence of 10 years simple imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs. 1,000.

Madras High Court Forms Committee To Crackdown On Illegal Homestays, Cottages In Nilgiris And Kodaikanal Hills

Case Title: G Subramania Koushik v. The Principal Secretary

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 162

The Madras High Court has ordered the formation of a committee comprising of District Revenue Officer, Municipal Commissioner and the District Tourism Officer to carry out inspection in Nilgiris and Kodaikanal districts to crack down on illegal home stay and cottage operators.

The forest bench of Justice N Sathish Kumar and Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy asked the committee to ensure that inspection is carried out throughout the hills and to check whether the home stays and cottages were operating with a license.

The court added that wherever illegal homestays were identified, the same would be closed down by the committee. The court asked the committee to conduct a detailed inspection and file the action taken report by the next hearing.

Terminated Temporary Workers Given Right To Apply In Future Recruitment Processes Along With Age Relaxation: Madras HC

Case Title: M. Maheshwaran and others v. The Chairman & Managing Director and others

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 163

Madras High Court: A single judge bench consisting of Justice Shamim Ahmed held that seasonal workers whose engagement was cancelled due to procedural irregularities, should not be punished for faults of the selection committee. The court ruled that while such temporary workers could not be reinstated, they must be permitted to participate in future recruitment processes, along with appropriate age relaxation.

The court explained that the selection committee made certain appointments without properly following the requisite guidelines, thereby resulting in disciplinary proceedings against these officers. Since the recruitment took place only for one season, the court held that the workers' suspension was procedurally valid.

The court noted that the irregularity in the appointment process was not the fault of the workers, and they should not be penalised for the selection committee's errors. The court also held that the termination should not adversely effect the petitioners' reputation. Considering the petitioners' prior experience as a seasonal employee, the court held that they should be granted an age relaxation for the forthcoming selection process.

High Time To Effectively Digitise Investigation Agencies, IT Wing Of Tamil Nadu Police Still In Premature Stage: Madras High Court

Case Title: J Manohar Dass v. Komathi and Others

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 164

The Madras High Court recently highlighted that it was high time to effectively digitise every investigation agency and ensure that court orders are effectively complied with.

Justice AD Jagadish Chandira noted that though the Tamil Nadu police has implemented the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), the ground reality was that the citizens were being constrained approach the courts for registration of FIR, conducting fair investigation, filing final reports etc. The court added that it was even worse that the court directions were not being followed by the department, leading to a plethora of contempt petitions.

The court added that in this AI era, the investigating officers could digitise everything at every stage of the investigation. The court noted that at present, the Information & Technology wing of the Tamil Nadu police lagged behind and was still in a premature stage. Considering the same, the court directed the police to complete the CCTNS 2.0 project within 4 months which would facilitate the services offered through the Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) platform. The court added that any delay would have to be reported with valid justification.

Constitute State Level Committees To Dispose Enquiries On 'Bogus' Community Certificates, Ensure Complete Scrutiny: Madras HC Tells State

Case Title: Bank of Baroda v. The Chairman and Others

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 165

The Madras High Court has asked the state government to ensure that required number of State Level Scrutiny Committees are constituted to effectively dispose pending enquiries in connection with community certificates and ensure that the certificates are issued after complete scrutiny.

The issue before the court was that many bogus Community Certificates had been issued by the revenue authorities, which is to be monitored by the Government, and in the event of issuing such bogus certificates, the Authorities issuing must be held responsible and accountable. It was brought to the court's notice that several persons who "secured public employment through bogus community certificates" and were not cooperating with the Committee for enquiry which leads to delay in taking final decision.

The bench of Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice K Rajasekar noted that the guidelines issued by the State for issuance and verification of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe certificates should be scrupulously followed and in the event of any failure, disciplinary action would be initiated against the officer for dereliction of duty.