The Tamil Nadu government on Monday said Madras High Court Chief Justice Sanjay Vijaykumar Gangapurwala had informed it that the status quo would be maintained with regard to displaying portraits of leaders on court premises.
A press release from the government said it had conveyed to the Chief Justice its position that the portraits of B.R. Ambedkar should not be removed from court premises.
The High Court had earlier issued a circular stating that no [fresh] statues or portraits, except those of Mahatma Gandhi and Tiruvalluvar, should be permitted to be displayed in courts in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
Following the circular from the Madras High Court Registry and subsequent protests by a section of lawyers, Law Minister S. Regupathy called on the Chief Justice and held talks, at the direction of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.
“The Law Minister handed over to the Chief Justice a letter underlining the position of the Tamil Nadu government that the portrait of Annal Ambedkar should not be removed,” the press release said.
According to the press release, the Chief Justice had said that “there was no direction to remove the portraits of any leader”, and that the “status quo is to be continued”. The message was conveyed to lawyers’ associations, it added.
