Lawyers stage demonstration demanding withdrawal of Madras High Court circular banning display of portraits inside court premises

Lawyers in CHENNAI staged a demonstration outside Madras High Court, demanding withdrawal of a circular prohibiting display of statues/portraits other than Mahatma Gandhi & Tiruvalluvar. They demanded a new circular permitting display of B.R. Ambedkar's portrait in all court premises in TN & Puducherry. High Court Registrar General had issued the circular, citing a series of resolutions passed since 2008.

A section of lawyers staged a demonstration outside the Madras High Court campus on Monday, demanding the withdrawal of a circular issued by the High Court administration on July 7, stating no other statues or portraits except those of Mahatma Gandhi and poet-saint Tiruvalluvar would be permitted inside court complexes in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

The lawyers carried placards and raised slogans, demanding the immediate withdrawal of the circular. They insisted that the High Court Registrar General should issue another circular permitting the display of portraits of B.R. Ambedkar in all court premises in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry since he was the chairman of a committee that drafted the Constitution of India.

The circular issued by Registrar General (in-charge) M. Jothiraman stated it had been brought to the notice of the High Court Registry that representations were being received from advocates associations from time to time, seeking permission to display portraits of B.R. Ambedkar and others in some district court premises. However, referring to a series of Full Court (a body comprising all judges of the High Court) resolutions passed since 2008 with respect to this issue, the R-G said, the Full Court, as recently as on April 11, 2023 had resolved that only portraits of Mahatma Gandhi and Tiruvalluvar could be displayed anywhere inside court premises.