The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Observer appointed for holding elections to Music Academy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 27, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Observer appointed for holding elections to Music Academy

Special Correspondent

Poll process should be completed by October 31: High Court

CHENNAI: : Ruling that elections to the Music Academy would solve most of the issues awaiting adjudication, the Madras High Court has appointed a retired judge of the court as observer to hold polls by October 31.

Disposing of a batch of writ petitions and an appeal, a Division Bench, comprising Justice Prafulla Kumar Misra and Justice N. Kannadasan, appointed Justice K.P. Sivasubramaniam as observer.

It also asked the Government to appoint, within three days, a Deputy Inspector-General of Registration, not connected with the case, to assist the observer in holding fair and transparent polls. The mandatory 21-day notice shall be given, and the process shall be completed by October 31.

Asking the trustees or other members of the committee not to interfere with the poll process, the judges said a president, four vice-presidents, two trustees, four joint secretaries, a treasurer and 12 other members would be elected. No subordinate court shall entertain any pre-election dispute, and that any poll-related dispute would be decided by the observer, it said.

As for the functioning of the incumbent office-bearers, the court said: "It is made clear that except to carry on the routine work, no special function shall be held in the mean time nor any policy decision taken by the committee members or trustees without the explicit permission from the court."

Bank accounts

The bank accounts shall be operated by the office-bearers concerned with the permission and supervision of the official deputed by the State Government. "The day-to-day management shall be carried on by the members of the committee, but the trustees will have no overriding say in the matter." The trustees too shall be elected, and "there is no question of any bylaw providing a six-year term for any trustee," the Bench said.

With reference to the show-cause notice, Additional Advocate-General R. Muthukumarasamy submitted that if directions were issued for holding elections, there would not be any necessity for appointing a Special Officer. The Government's intention was to put the organisation back on track. The judge said: "We do not feel any real necessity for taking any action for supersession of committee on the basis of the show-cause notice."

"The Music Academy has a fair name not only within Tamil Nadu but also in other parts of the country. Internal differences should not diminish its lustre," the judges said.

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