High Court Dismisses Plea Against Secretariat at Pattinapakkam as Withdrawn

Chennai: The Madras high court on Monday dismissed the petition against the construction of the new Secretariat complex at Pattinapakkam as withdrawn. The petitioner requested the court to give him permission to withdraw his plea after the judges stated that they could not intervene in a policy decision of the government.

When the petition of an advocate Tamilvendan came up before a division bench comprising Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan, the judges pointed out that even the Supreme Court had refused to entertain a plea challenging the construction of the new Parliament building in 2022 holding that it was a policy decision. The court also pointed out that the Madras High Court had dismissed a similar plea against the construction of a new Secretariat in 2011.

The court also asked “how is public money being wasted. It’s for the government to build wherever they want. Where does the court have the power to direct the government to build at a particular location”. The judges also said the petitioner had not provided any materials to support his case. The court would have to start imposing costs, the bench said, adding otherwise such petitions would keep coming up. Following the court’s remarks, the petitioner requested the court to withdraw his plea and the judges dismissed it as withdrawn.