Plea seeking PM, President portraits binned by Madras HC

CHENNAI: Observing bserving that it is not mandatory for all government buildings to have photographs of all political leaders and respective government office can deal with the matter, the Madras High Court disposed of a plea seeking portraits of the President and Prime Minister on walls of all offices.

The plea moved by BJP’s Government Relation Cell Cuddalore district president, R Jayakkumar, stated that a government order passed in 1978 allows for hanging photos of a list of leaders in government buildings and public offices.

“The list includes photos of incumbent President and Prime Minister, but none of the offices are complying with the rules,” the petitioner added. The State argued that the government notification says it’s optional for the offices to have one or more photographs of the national leaders, and nothing has been made mandatory.

Recording the submissions, the First Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy observed, “Since the government notification concerned does not make it mandatory for all government buildings to have photographs, the respective offices can take a decision.”