Govt cannot be expected to act on all things overnight: Madras HC

The Madras High Court on Friday disposed of a PIL and a contempt petition, seeking immediate implementation of its January 2014 order banning defacement of public places, saying government cannot be expected to act on all things overnight.

The PIL was filed by lawyer Elephant Rajendran and the contempt petition by Traffic Ramaswamy.

The First Bench, comprising acting Chief Justice Huluvadi G Ramesh and Justice R Mahadevan, noted that a committee had already been constituted for the purpose and directed them to to approach it.

"You cannot expect the government to act overnight. As submitted by Additional Advocate General, it may not be possible to take steps immediately because of the lack of official staff and other machinery.

"The violations, if any, may be placed by the petitioner before the committee, which shall take note of it and do the needful," it said.

Disposing of the PIL, the bench said government has got to do a better business.

"Government is an executive and decisions have to be taken by it. Wherever the violation is, there the court can interfere and direct to keep things in an orderly manner. We cannot say that government has not taken any action," it said.