High Court’s reference
I write this letter as a senior advocate and former Advocate-General of Tamil Nadu. C.N. Annadurai and M.G. Ramachandran were the only Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu for whom full court reference was made by the Madras High Court on their passing. The then Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, Justice M. Anantanarayanan, made a reference speech, on February 5, 1969, on C.N. Annadurai, while Chief Justice M.N. Chandurkar made a reference speech, on January 4, 1988, on M.G. Ramachandran.
Tomorrow, on December 24, Tamil Nadu will pay homage to M.G.R. On a personal note, I can say that M.G.R. had tremendous faith in the judiciary and the rule of law, having witnessed his functioning in close quarters. When the issue of parity of scales of pay of various officers of the Registry of the High Court with the scales of pay of equivalent post in the Secretariat remained unresolved for almost 25 years, he ordered parity, after fathoming the injustice done to the staff of the Madras High Court.
