Chennai: Satyakumar, a lawyer from Selaiyur, filed a petition before the Madras High Court seeking a direction to Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi to wear formal dress in official functions. The petitioner pointed out that the TN government had issued an ordinance in 2019, asking all government employees to wear formal dress.
The decree states that they should wear a formal shirt or the Tamil traditional dress, vetti and shirt but Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin wears a t-shirt emblazoned with DMK's Udaya Suriyan (Rising Sun) symbol in government functions, the petitioner told the court.
The petitioner has said that government employees are prohibited from displaying the symbols of political parties while participating in government functions. Hence, Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin should be ordered to wear formal clothes in government functions as his wearing informal dress is unconstitutional, the petitioner said.
The case came up for hearing before a bench of Justice Krishnakumar and Justice Balaji. The petitioner said that the deputy chief minister wearing t-shirt was against the government's decree.
Advocate-General PS Raman, who appeared on behalf of the Tamil Nadu government, said that the State government order is applicable only to government employees. He explained that it does not apply to ministers.
Then the judges raised several questions. Does the Ordinance on dress code for government employees apply to those holding constitutional positions? T-shirt casual wear? Is there a dress code for those holding constitutional positions? The court also ordered the Tamil Nadu government to file a reply and adjourned the hearing to next week.
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