Chennai: Madras High Court has dismissed a contempt petition, which sought to punish authorities for their willful disobedience of the order of court relating to depicting pictures of living persons in banners, flex board and sign boards.
Justice S. Vaidyanathan dismissed the contempt petition filed by social activist Traffic Ramaswamy.
The judge said according to the petitioner, there is a violation of the order dated October 23, 2017 passed by this court. This court has passed the said order directing the authority concerned to ensure that photographs of alive persons should not be depicted in banners, flex boards and sign boards.
Pursuant thereto, the First Bench of this court in writ appeal, by a judgment dated December 20, 2017 set aside his order to the limited extent as regards depiction of photos in banners, of persons who are alive, the judge added.
The judge said the grievance of the petitioner was that photographs of live persons were depicted in the banners till the order under contempt was partially modified by the First Bench of this court. “I am of the view that since the order dated October 23, 2017 passed by me got merged with the order dated December 20, 2017 passed by the First Bench of this court, on the principle of “Doctrine of Merger”, the present contempt petition cannot be entertained.
However, if the petitioner is aggrieved, it is open to him to put forth his grievance before the concerned Division Bench of this court,” the judge added
and dismissed the contempt petition.
