NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday approved the Tamil Nadu's ‘Ungaludan Stalin’ (With You, Stalin) scheme, and slapped Rs 10 lakh cost on AIADMK MP C V Shanmugam for targetting the programme launched by the DMK government, when 45 schemes across the country have been named after political figures.
Finding the plea by the opposition leader as misconceived and an abuse of the process of law, a bench led by Chief Justice of India B R Gavai said, "Time and again, we have observed that political battles should be fought before the electorate. The courts should be used to settle the political scores between the political parties".
The bench, also comprising Justices K Vinod Chandran and N V Anjaria, quashed the Madras High Court's July 31 interim order, which restrained the use of names and photographs of living personalities, former Chief Ministers, party leaders or political parties for the government welfare schemes.
The court heard senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi, A M Singhvi and P Wilson on behalf of the state government, and senior advocate Maninder Singh for the AIADMK leader.
The High Court order had told the DMK government not to use names and photographs of present and former chief ministers in welfare schemes.
Pronouncing the order, the bench said the planting of schemes in the name of political leaders is a phenomenon, followed throughout the country.
The court pointed out that Tamil Nadu has given a list of 45 such schemes in the name of various political leaders, but the petitioner singled out the DMK's scheme for challenge.
"When such schemes are floated in the name of all leaders of political parties, we do not appreciate the anxiety of the petitioner to choose only one political party and one political leader," the bench said.
The bench said if the petitioner was really concerned about the misuse of public funds by political parties, then he could have made a challenge to all such schemes.
"However, singling out only one political leader shows the intentions of the petitioner," the bench said, adding that the manner in which the petition was filed also raised doubts about the motive of the petitioner.
The court also noted that the petitioner rushed to the Madras High Court within three days of making a representation to the Election Commission without giving an opportunity to the poll body to make a decision on his representation.
The court said the writ petition by the AIADMK MP before the High Court was misconceived in law and also an abuse of process of law.
Acting on a PIL filed by Shanmugam on July 31, the High Court restrained the state government from naming any new or rebranded public welfare schemes after living individuals.
The order was passed by a division bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice Sunder Mohan. The high court had also barred the use of portraits of former chief ministers, ideological leaders, or any Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) insignia, emblem, or flag in advertisements promoting such schemes.
The petitioner filed the plea against the naming and promotion of the government’s public outreach programme titled 'Ungaludan Stalin', alleging that it violated established norms.
Questioning the HC's order, the Tamil Nadu government said, it has been held by the top court in its various orders that the name and pictures of the CMs, former CMs and political leaders can be used in government welfare schemes.
It contended the High Court has passed an unusual order that no scheme of the government can have the name of the Chief Minister or any other political figure.
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