Madras High Court refuses to intervene in renaming of college

It said, “Whether the building ought to have been renamed, would undoubtedly fall within the domain of government”. According to petitioner A. Gowdhaman, the government turned down the request to rename the building. The land originally belonged to philanthropist and freedom fighter Singaravelar.

The state government replied that the land in question where the Lady Willingdon College complex is located belongs to PWD, having been acquired under Land Acquisition Act, after paying compensation to the land owner. The renaming of the building, which is a policy domain of the state government, is done in a pace manner. Thus, no further direction is necessary.

Closing the contempt proceedings, the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana said in pursuance to the writ petition filed, memorial and the library at Royapuram have been inaugurated, for which Rs 2.38 crore is stated to have been spent for construction and the ‘samadhis’ of the forefathers were renovated at a stated cost of Rs 1.95 lakh. Whether the building ought to have been renamed also would undoubtedly fall within the domain of government”, the bench

said.