'Sorry, have lost faith in you': Madras High Court slams Tamil Nadu govt after AIADMK's illegal hoarding kills 23-year-old techie

Madras High Court came down heavily on the Tamil Nadu government on Friday after a 23-year-old Chennai woman was killed in an accident after a large flex board fell on her. The court, which has on previous occasions outlawed the use of large political hoardings along streets, expressed its displeasure on the non-compliance of its order by the ruling party, going ahead to said that it "had lost faith in the government," ANI reported.

A hoarding about AIADMK party had come off lose and fallen on Subashree, a software engineer, after which she fell off her two-wheeler and came under a water tanker on Thursday. The accident took place on the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam road when the woman, a resident of Chromepet in Chennai, was on her way back home. The victim received serious head injury and was rushed to Kamakshi Hospital where she later passed away.

The Madras High Court was hearing a petition filed by city-based activist Traffic Ramaswamy, who has demanded that the errant officials in this case and those responsible for the erecting the hoarding should be booked, India Today reported.

File image of Madras High Court. Wikimedia Commons

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The court said that it was tired of passing multiple orders against illegal flex boards. Justice Seshasayee said, "There is zero respect for lives in this country. It's a bureaucratic apathy. Sorry, we have lost faith in the government."

Meanwhile, as the matter made headlines, the Chennai Police arrested the driver of the water tanker that had run over Subashree. The police also booke the former AIADMK councillor C Jayagopal, who was reportedly responsible for putting up the hoarding. The ad was reportedly erected as part of wedding celebrations of the AIADMK functionary's son on the Pallavaram-Thoraipakam radial road.

Furthermore, the Chennai civic body has also sealed the shop which had printed the hoarding. The city's civic body had earlier said that any person found violating the rules regarding hoarding and advertisements, under Section 326 of Chennai City Municipal Act, 1919, can face imprisonment up to one year. The municipal corporation's order came after an October, 2017 Madras High Court order banning all authorities in the state from erecting banners that use photographs of people who are alive in a bid to weed out the menace of hoardings and signboards dotting the skyline.

In September 2018, the high court had again ordered the civic authorities to remove all unauthorised AIADMK banners erected across the city in connection with the valedictory function of the centenary celebrations of the ruling party's founder and late chief minister MG Ramachandran, hours ahead of the event.

Meanwhile, the incident provided another opportunity to the Opposition to hit out at the ruling party. DMK chief MK Stalin on Thursday slammed the AIADMK government over the incident.

Accusing the government of negligence leading to the death of the woman, Stalin tweeted, "Subashree has died due to negligence of the government, inefficient police officers. The illegal banners have taken yet another life. My deepest condolences to her family."

"How many more lives will be lost to the power-hungry and anarchist rule?" the DMK supremo asked.

These hoardings were erected on either side of the road and on the divider by former AIADMK Councillor and Kancheepuram East MGR Mandram assistant secretary S Jayagopal to announce his son's wedding.

"The hoardings are unauthorised. We are taking action against those who put them up," C Maheswari, Joint Commissioner of Police of Chennai South region, told NDTV.

With inputs from ANI.