Madras High Court declines request to install Dr. BR Ambedkar portrait in courts; says only Gandhi, Thiruvalluvar portraits allowed

The full court of Madras High Court on April 11 reiterated its earlier decision to not have photos, statues or portraits of any leader other than Mahatma Gandhi and Saint Thiruvalluvar in courts and court premises in Tamil Nadu. .The Court, therefore, turned down the requests made by various advocates' associations to have the portrait of Dr. BR Ambedkar inside courts in the State.A circular issued by the Registrar General on July 7 said that the full court of the High Court took the decision keeping in mind the series of earlier resolutions passed since October 2008, when it had first rejected the plea by a lawyers' group to display the portrait of Dr. Ambedkar inside the Court. "Very recently on April 11, 2013, the Full Court considered a similar request, and reiterating all the earlier resolutions, unanimously resolved that except the statues and portraits of Mahatma Gandhiji and Saint Thiruvalluvar, no other portraits and pictures shall be displayed anywhere inside the Court premises,” the circular said..As per the circular, the full court had on October 22, 2008 rejected an application filed by Tamil Nadu Dr BR Ambedkar Advocates Association, which had sought permission to display the portrait of Dr Ambedkar in court halls in the State.On March 11, 2010, the full court while resolving to prohibit installation of the statues of any political leader, had noted the damage caused to such statues in various parts of the State, which had led to law and order situation in the past. Subsequently, in April 2011, it was decided to disallow display of any portraits in court halls. .Pertinently, on April 20, 2013, the full court had ordered the Principal District Judge of Kancheepuram, to convince the Alandu Court Lawyers' Association to remove the photo of Dr Ambedkar that they had put up at the entrance of a newly constructed court building. A similar prayer of the Cuddalore Bar Association was rejected. Reiterating all the previous decisions, the newly issued circular said that the concerned district and principal district judges will have to adhere to the orders and resolutions of the full court, in letter and spirit. .[Read Circular]