The Madras High Court has allowed the Tamil Nadu government to erect posters welcoming PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping for their meet next week.
The division bench of Justices M Sathyanarayanan and N Seshasayeecourt said it had no objection to the installation of banners to welcome the two dignitaries until and unless the state follows all the existing rules in connection with the installation of such banners.
The petition was filed by the commissioner of municipal administration said authorities were not giving permission for putting up such structures throughout the state. The petition said that it is the duty of the Ministry of External Affairs to welcome a visiting dignitary by way of banners.
Stating that the state and central governments proposed to put up the banners at designated places to welcome the top dignitaries, the petitioner asked the court to pass suitable orders on the proposal.
The decision comes days after a hoarding, with pictures of AIADMK leaders, fell on Chennai techie Subhasri Ravi as a consequence of which she was thrown off balance and rammed by a truck behind her. Following the incident, several political parties told its cadres to remove the unauthorised hoardings.
The Madras High Court had taken a serious note of the situation and told the Tamil Nadu government that it had lost faith in the State government.
Madras High Court says, it is tired of passing multiple orders against illegal flex boards. Justice Seshasayee says, there is zero respect for lives in this country. It’s bureaucratic apathy. Sorry we have lost faith in the Govt. pic.twitter.com/3N6sq4ZrFA
— ANI (@ANI) September 13, 2019
The court had also asked the state government to submit a report mentioning steps to eradicate banner culture and actions taken for compensating the particular incident.
Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan condemned the government’s petition and appealed PM Modi to “act as a pioneer” and put an end to the “banner culture,” reported The Print.
The DMK has called the move a ‘hidden agenda’ of the AIADMK government to erect more hoardings and banners once again.
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