HC dismisses petitions of 35 villages in South TN

The Madras High Court today dismissed 35 petitions from various villages in South Tamil Nadu, seeking permission to hold dance and music programmes in connection with temple festivals.
The Bench of Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana held that "it cannot be a party to unlawful activities, including indecent representation of women and luring youngsters to the wrong path."
The court could not permit such programmes even by imposing conditions as they could be violated. If conditions are violated then damage caused cannot be restored, she said.
She pointed out that the petitioners had filed their petitions just one or two days after making representations to the officials concerned.

"This raises a doubt as to whether the representations had been sent by the petitioners themselves who claim to have genuine interest in the conduct of the festival. They have come to this court even before their representation reached the respective officials. Such practice cannot be entertained," Sathyanarayana said.
In some cases the representations had been sent from the High Court post office itself, she said.
The judge said some land owners had also raised objections, saying the programme organisers do not keep dustbins and hence those who attend such programmes litter the areas.
Some of them had also resorted to drunken brawls, leading to law and order situation, she said.