HC dismisses TN Govt's plea against Lankan memorial function

The Madras High Court today dismissed Tamil Nadu Government's appeal against a single bench order directing the police to permit the three-day inaugural function of a private memorial dedicated to the Tamil victims of the war in Sri Lanka.
Rejecting the contention of the government, justices Jeyachandran and Vaidhyanathan of the Madurai bench held it had not provided sufficient grounds for setting aside the November 5 order which allowed the function at Villar village in Thanjavur District being organised by the World Tamils' Federation Trust from tomorrow.
The judges pointed out that the petitioners had given an undertaking to conduct the function smoothly and hence the government should grant permission for the organisation to hold the function.

If according to intelligence reports there were threats, police could impose restrictions necessary to maintain law and order for the conduct of the function, they said.
The government argued that the court did not take into consideration the short span in which the permission had been sought, the intelligence report that some persons may face threat and hence his order should be set aside.
However, the counsel for the petitioners Vijayan said that they would abide by the law,and would ensure that there would be no untoward incident.

Referring to the arguement of the government that the state could regulate law and order and had right to regulate meetings, the judges said that, "You can impose restrictions and give protection to the meeting."

On the civil dispute regarding the land on which the memorial had been constructed, the Judges said permission to hold function had nothing to do with the civil dispute, which could be settled through the civil court.
"This judgement is not an acknowledgement of the trust's right over the disputed area."
The court also directed authorities to deploy sufficient police personnel for the conduct the function smoothly.
Referring to the arguement that 'no objection certificates' had not been obtained from the Fire and Rescue Service and the structures had been constructed encroaching the PWD channel, the judges said they were not grounds for denying permission for the function.

Action against the concerned persons could be taken by the concerned departments for any violation, this court did not give acknowlegement to such violations.
The three-day function is being organised in memory of the Tamils who died in Sri Lanka and also to highlight the struggle of victims of Mullivaaikaal and camp during the final phase of the battle against LTTE.
The memorial was inagurated yesterday after the judge's order.