The Madras High Court has refused to modify a scheme framed by it in April 1972 enabling a family member of erstwhile philanthropist V.L. Ethiraj to be a part of the seven-member Board of Trustees that manages the Ethiraj College for Women.
Justice R. Suresh Kumar dismissed an application made in 2018 by four former faculty members accusing the then chairman V.M. Muralidharan of treating the trust property as his personal property and meddling with the affairs of the institution.
The applicants Thavamani, K.R.S. Girija Shyamsundar, V. Kadambari and Chitraa Venkataachalam had also alleged that the son and other relatives of Mr. Muralidharan visit the college often and interfere with the activities of the board of trustees.
Hence, they wanted the court to exclude the family members from the board and order that only a retired judge of the High Court should occupy the post of chairman and also that only service minded dignitaries should be made part of the board.
The judge rejected their plea for having failed to submit materials to substantiate their allegations. Moreover, the six-year tenure of Mr. Muralidharan had come to an end in January 2019 and another family member D. Krupa Shankar had been inducted into the board.
“Therefore, as on date, the first respondent is no more Chairman or Trustee of the Board,” the judge said and dismissed the application after observing that the inclusion of one family member in the board would be necessary to propagate the cherished memories of the founder.
Ethiraj, a reputed senior lawyer and a prestigious member of the Madras Bar, had created the Ethiraj College for Women Trust on April 7, 1948 and established an arts and science college for women. After his death, the High Court had framed a scheme to manage the institution.