By IANS,
New Delhi : The Supreme Court Wednesday declined a plea for directing the Madras High Court not to hear a petition challenging the shifting of the Tamil Nadu government’s secretariat from Mount Road to its old home Fort St. George in Chennai.
The apex court vacation bench of Justice H.L. Gokhale and Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai said it was “not inclined to grant the writ of prohibition as prayed by the petitioner”.
Petitioner J. Ramesh had approached the apex court to restrain the high court from hearing the third public interest litigation challenging the shifting of the secretariat.
Counsel M. Purshothaman, appearing for the petitioner, told the court that the high court had rejected similar pleas twice.
Justice Gokhale said: “Having passed two orders (rejecting the pleas), will the high court not pass the third order. Judges know their job.”
The court said that in Tamil Nadu “you have excessive tendency of litigation” and if it would have happened in Maharashtra the litigant would have faced the displeasure of the court.
The high court, while rejecting the earlier pleas challenging the shifting of the state government secretariat, held that it was a policy decision and it could not interfere in it.
The secretariat was shifted to the new building located on Mount Road by the previous state government March 13, 2010.
Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa May 15, 2011 moved the secretariat back to its old home Fort St. George and converted the building on Mount Road into a hospital.