Chennai, May 16 (IANS) Madras High Court's Chief Justice, Sanjay V. Gangapurwala is set to retire on May 23 and Justice R. Mahadevan, the senior-most judge of the court, will serve as the Acting Chief Justice until the post is filled.

Chief Justice Gangapurwala, who was in the Bombay High Court earlier, took charge at the Madras High Court on May 29, 2023, and has dealt with several cases including constitutional, statutory, and public interest issues.

On June 16, 2023, while dealing with a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed against the felling of 182 trees and transplantation of 103 more trees for the expansion of Egmore Railway Station in Chennai, his bench directed the Southern Railway to strictly comply with the conditions imposed by the District Green Committee.

In another landmark judgment, he also made it clear to the banks that they could not use muscle power and engage private agents to recover loans. He asked the banks to follow the procedures established by the law to realise their dues.

In the case of former Tamil Nadu Minister V. Senthil Balaji continuing to be part of the state cabinet even after being in judicial custody, a bench of the Chief Justice and Justice P.D. Audikesavalu wrote that a minister without a portfolio was a constitutional travesty.

He had also called upon the Tamil Nadu government to act with urgency to appoint teachers in the special schools of visually challenged children, as he disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition stating that 50 per cent of the teaching posts were lying vacant in such schools run by the state government.

Then, a bench comprising him and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy had refused to declare null and void the election of four MPs and eight MLAs who had contested on reserved symbols belonging to other political parties in the 2019 general elections and the 2021 Assembly elections.

Justice Gangapurwala, before the commencement of the summer vacation for the high court on April 30, had passed a significant order related to the abolition of manual scavenging, ordering the registration of criminal cases against civic body officials, if any deaths were reported due to this practice.

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