Will stand by my order on helmet wearing till I retire: Judge

Making it clear that he would stand by his judgement on making wearing of helmets mandatory in Tamil Nadu, the Madras High Court judge Justice N Kirubakaran on Monday said he would not compromise on the order till the day he retires.

When the matter came up before him on Monday, Additional Advocate General P H Aravind Pandian filed a report giving full details of the action taken against violators, as sought by the court.

The AAG submitted that 14,503 cases were booked in Chennai alone and 1.30 lakh throughout Tamil Nadu from July 1 when the state government order came into force, till July 12.

When the Madras High Court Advocates Association president R C Paulkanakaraj made a mention of the order passed by the judge on wearing of helmets, Justice Kirubakaran said he was following each and every activity of advocates who protested in Madurai and prevented the public from wearing helmets.

He said he had watched a TV debate where some lawyers said there was no statutory requirement to wear helmets and asked the MHAA President if he knew what the rules are and why advocates who are supposed to uphold the law are protesting when public were adhering to the helmet rule.

"When you buy <g data-gr-id="18">elephant</g>, you have to buy Ankusam" (rod controlled by mahout to control it), the judge said.

He made this remark while replying to arguments of Kanagaraj that government had neither elicited public opinion before passing the order nor granted time to people to raise objections, resulting in them being forced to buy inferior quality helmets at a "heavy" cost.