Can’t interfere with Speaker’s decision on Jayalalithaa portrait: Madras HC

Statue of late Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa unveiled at AIADMK headquarters. (ANI Twitter/File)

The Madras High Court on Monday observed it cannot interfere with the decision of Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal to put up a portrait of late AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa in the House. The court observed that if the people did not like the decision of the Speaker, it will reflect in the next elections.

On February 12, DMK MLA J Anbazhagan had moved the court after the portrait of Jayalalithaa was unveiled in the Assembly hall, and sought its removal on the grounds that she was found guilty on graft charges.

Arguing for the petitioner, senior counsel P Wilson said displaying the portrait of a person who was found guilty of corruption will set a precedent. He submitted that the money of tax payers cannot be used for “illegal activities which are against the provisions of Constitution.”

Hearing the PIL, Chief Justice Indira Banerjee made it clear that the court cannot interfere with the decision of the Speaker. The Speaker, elected by the next Assembly, will take a decision on the matter, she said.