The Madras High Court on Tuesday asked the police to come up with suggestions on empowering personnel, including constables, to take action against the misuse of the national and State emblems by former Ministers, former Members of the Parliament and the Legislative Assembly and retired judges of the Supreme Court and High Court.
Justice S.M. Subramaniam said he would pass a detailed order, directing the police to initiate stringent action against the misuse of emblems by former legislators and retired judges, but was not sure whether such an order would be implemented effectively. He said policemen should not hesitate to initiate action against highly placed offenders.
Passing interim orders, the judge had suo motu impleaded the Director General of Police as a respondent in a related case pending before him, and had directed Additional Government Pleader M. Rajendiran to ensure the presence of a responsible officer from the office of the DGP or the Greater Chennai Commissioner of Police.
Accordingly, Additional Commissioner of Police J. Loganadhan appeared before the court on Tuesday. The judge told the officer that the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act of 1950 clearly prohibited the misuse of emblems and names of certain organisations. But there was still large scale violation of the law, he said. He said the law defined the term ‘emblem’ to mean any emblem, seal, flag, insignia, coat of arms or pictorial representation specified in a schedule appended to the Act. Though the law was in force, its implementation was questionable, as the police were being accused of not using it often, he said. Stating that even a police constable should be able to prevent the misuse of an emblem, the judge asked the Additional Commissioner of Police to come up with suggestions on how best the law could be implemented. He granted time till January 3 for the suggestions to be made in writing, so he could pass appropriate orders.
The issue was taken up during the hearing of a 2014 writ petition filed by film financier Mukunchand Bothra (since dead), but now pursued by his son Gagan Bothra, complaining about the alleged misuse of the national emblem by former MP R. Anbarasu (who also died in August 2019) on his letter pad in 2006. The petitioner had said that he was arrested and kept in judicial custody for 21 days on the basis of a complaint lodged by the former MP. However, the High Court quashed the FIR in 2012. Later, he came to know that the former an MP had lodged the complaint on a letter pad with the national emblem. Anbarasu was not an MP on May 27, 2006, when the complaint was lodged, the petitioner had sent a representation to the Prime Minister’s Office in 2013, seeking appropriate action under the 1950 Act, and it was forwarded to the Greater Chennai police. Yet, no action was taken, and hence, the present petition.
