Nayakkaneri panchayat in Tirupattur district has become the latest reason for exchange of war of words between Governor R. N. Ravi and the Tamil Nadu government. Duraimurugan, the seniormost Minister in the Cabinet, issued a strong statement on October 6 accusing the Governor of having made defamatory remarks, regarding a Scheduled Caste woman not having taken charge as the panchayat president since 2021, without knowing about pending court proceedings.
A rummage into the Madras High Court records by The Hindu reveals that a Division Bench of Justices S. Vaidyanathan and A. A. Nakkiran had on October 7, 2021 restrained P. Indumathi, who was declared elected unopposed, from assuming office. Passing interim orders on a writ appeal, the Bench had said: “Since this court feels that the place is not meant for the person of this category, we make it clear that she shall not take charge.”
The appeal was filed jointly by former Panchayat president K. Sivakumar and and R. Selvaraji, a Scheduled Tribe aspirant to the post, against the September 22, 2021 refusal of Justice N. Anand Venkatesh to interfere with the election of the Scheduled Caste woman. The appellants had originally filed a writ petition questioning Tamil Nadu State Election Commission’s (TNSEC) decision to reserve the Nayakkaneri Panchayat president’s post for Scheduled Caste (women).
