Judicial restraint is essential in administrative decisions unless proven mala fide or unreasonable; delay in filing petitions can be fatal to claims.

ORDER :

D.Krishnakumar, ACJ.

Seeking a primary relief of quashment of G.O. (Ms.) No.264, Law (LS) Department, dated 14.9.2018, issued by the first respondent, the present writ petition is filed, wherein the incidental relief sought is to direct the official respondents to handover the heritage building, including the land to “Dr.Ambedkar Government Law College”, the erstwhile “'Madras Law College”, and declare the same as a “Centre for Advanced/Post Graduate Legal Studies and Research”.

2.1. The brief résumé of the facts, as have been exposited in the writ petition, run thus: In the academic year 2018-2019, Dr.Ambedkar Government Law College, [the erstwhile “Madras Law College”], located adjacent to the campus housing the magnificent edifice of the High Court of Madras, was bifurcated and shifted to the backwoods, to wit, (i) to Pattarai Perumpudur in Thiruvallur District, which is 65 km away from the old campus, to conduct the Three-year Law Course and L.L.M. Courses; and (ii) to Pudupakkam in Chengalpattu District, which is 40 km away from the old campus, to conduct Five-Year Law Course. The above bifurcation and shifting of the Law College from Chennai to the newly constructed campuses, referred supra, was ordered vide G.O.(Ms.) No.188, Law (LS) Department, dated 28.06.2018, based on the recommendation made by the Justice P.Shanmugam Commission of Inquiry.

2.2. Accentuating the need for ameliorating the infrastructural facilities in the High Court, with specific reference to the inadequacy of Court Halls and Chambers to accommodate the Hon'ble Judges of High Court; shortage of space for the Registry and the staff members, besides space for maintaining and preserving the records; and the space crunch faced by the Bar Associations etc., the Registrar General of the Madras High Court, had requested the government, vide letter dated 06.09.2018 to handover the land and heritage building, wherein the Dr.Ambedkar Government Law College was earlier functioning, to the High Court of Madras.

2.3. The Government, vide G.O.(Ms) No.264, Law (LS) Department, dated 14.09.2018, has accepted the aforesaid request made by the Registrar General and directed the Director of Legal Studies to handover the land and buildings, including the heritage building of Dr.Ambedkar Government Law College, to the High Court of Madras.

3.1. The main plank of the argument advanced by learned counsel for the petitioner is that the act of government per se eroding the educational heritage and identity of the prestigious institution and thereby depriving the generations from being educated in the iconic inspiring institution, is a historic blunder. The shifting of the college from smack dab in the middle of the city to the backwoods, has immensely and intensely affected the education, health and life aspirations of the students. Further, the students have to expend a significant amount on travel expenses everyday, as there are no adequate transport facilities. There are no shops, proper canteen facilities or medical facilities within the proximity of the said campuses and the students must travel about 3 km to access basic amenities. The hostelers are frequently affected by the skin diseases caused by 'Paederus beetles' and such beetles are large in number in the hostel premises.

3.2. The next submission put forth by learned counsel for the petitioner is that the report of the Justice Shanmugam Commission of Inquiry has recommended conversion of the High Court Law College Campus into a Post Graduate Study Centre in Law and a training centre for legal education, so that the services of expert lawyers of the High Court in various specialized branches of law can be best utilized. However, without paying heed to the said recommendation, the government order, impugned in this writ petition, has been passed and, therefore, the same has to be set aside.

3.3. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner has produced the government order in G.O. (Ms.) No.294, Home (Courts-III) D