Wednesday, April 30, 2008

A BRIEF NOTE ON THE LEGAL CASE


*

A case had been filed by the Bishop & Co. in the Madurai High Court.

Their prayer was to order the Commissioner of Police of Madurai to evict the “unlawful” presence of the Principal Dr. Chinnaraj Joseph who had been suspended by a resolution of the Governing Council, convened by the Bishop and to help Dr. George Selvakumar to officiate as Principal.

The case was heard on April 29, 2008. The prayer has been dismissed. Once the official judgment copy was issued it will be shared here.


SOME SNIPPETS:

• The Judge asked what were the other avenues they had tried before coming to this court.

• When their counsel was talking about the Governing Council and its resolution, the Judge asked where the meeting was conducted; was it in any Hotel.

• The Judge asked for the original minutes of the meeting and for the resolution. It was replied that those evidences were all in the diocesan office.

• The Judge deputed two young advocates to rush to the diocesan office and to get the minutes immediately.

• The minutes note produced was a simple one-quire note book.

• The minutes were signed by “eight” Governing Council members.

• However the resolution was signed only by the Bishop and the “Secretary”, George Selvakumar. Judge asked the reason for this. But there was no answer from that side.

• The resolution was not accepted by the court.

• Hon Judge has issued an order that government officials (R.D.O.) have to monitor the daily routine of the college.

• Both the parties should not do anything that can harm the routine functioning of the college.

• The authority of the Bishop to convene the GC, the authenticity of the signatories of the GC meeting and the veracity of the signatures – all have to be contested in another case.



A friend commented: We have not won anything; but they have lost their case.

5 comments:

  1. Robbie said...

    Who can stand against God and His zeal. If we the students / alumnus / staff of The American College become zealous to protect...how much more will our Lord the original visionary be zealous.

    Let us all wait and see what the Good Lord is doing!! We will surely have a great time.

    In Him,
    Robert
    98 MBA 33

    Wednesday, April 30, 2008 7:25:00 PM

    ReplyDelete
  2. A.R.Venkitaraman says:

    Feel very relieved that the Bishop's writ petition to the Tamilnadu High Court stands promptly dismissed. Happy that the College is having its day in court.

    Wednesday, April 30, 2008 10:00:00 PM

    ReplyDelete
  3. zameer says:
    good news atlast

    a sigh of relief indeed

    regs

    Wednesday, April 30, 2008 10:02:00 PM

    ReplyDelete
  4. G.Stanley Jeyasingh says:

    Happy to read the court verdict. Only the Secretary of
    the college(Principal) is the rightful authority to
    convene the Governing Council. It is a lesson to the
    college to keep only academicians in the council
    keeping the power mongers away.

    Wednesday, April 30, 2008 10:53:00 PM

    ReplyDelete
  5. Julius David

    Dear Mr. George,

    Thank you very much keeping us posted of the developments! Please convey my regards to Mr. Joseph Chinnaraj, when you get a chance and ask him to send me a note if he needs anything.

    I tried to post the following comments in the IPAC blog site but for some reason I am NOT able to so if you can arrange to post it, I'd really appreciate it.

    First of, I am vey happy about the court's decision and hope this is just the first of the many wins the college will have in this sad episode that is distracting everyone from being productive and enjoying life!

    Just curious...

    #1) If the court dismissed the case filed by the Bishop on the grounds of "production of false documents in the High Court", isn't this perjury (or contempt of court / judge) that is “automatically” punishable under Indian law? If NOT, I am assuming that the lawyers representing the interests of the college following up on this!

    #2) Since the diocese of Madurai & Ramnad is under the jurisdiction of the Synod of CSI, has anyone from the Synod taken the responsibility for the Bishop’s behavior and / or intervened to mediate in the larger interest of Church of Christ?

    #3) Is there a fund setup to pay for expenditure the college is incurring to defend its position? If so, please publish the details of how to donate, especially from the US through a local agency here in the US.

    Last but not the least, I want to take this opportunity to thank all you who have stepped forward to show your support to this great institution!


    Also, if someone could respond to these queries that will be great!


    Thanks again for all your efforts to protect our College!!!

    Regards,
    Julius David

    Thursday, May 01, 2008 12:19:00 PM

    ReplyDelete