Madras High Court fiat on child rights panel chief

Chennai: The Madras high court has warned the state government it would interfere with the appointment of the chairperson of the Tamil Nadu Commission for Protection of Child Rights (TNCPCR) if the appointment is not reviewed immediately. The first bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R. Mahadevan, before which a petition filed by social activist A. Narayanan of ChangeIndia came up for hearing on Friday, said the state government did not follow a reasonable process while appointing the Chairperson for TNCPCR.

The bench said it is quite obvious that the process has not been followed. "We asked the advocate general whether he would like to review the issue himself and advise the government appropriately or it would be necessary for Judicial intervention, especially keeping in mind the judgment of the Division Bench of Delhi high court in Association for Development and another vs. Union Of India and others dated 07.11.2013", the bench said.

The advocate general assured the court that he will advise the government appropriately and expects some solution. Later, the bench has adjourned the matter to December 7, 2016, for further hearing. The petitioner Narayanan sought to streamline and strengthen the working of the TNCPCR. After the Bench directed the government to appoint a chairperson in two months, the government passed a GO dated September 1, appointing Kalyani Mathivanan, former vice-chancellor of Madurai Kamaraj University, as the chairperson of TNCPCR. The petitioner contended that the appointment violated the procedure as contemplated under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005.