Cricket holiday in Chennai challenged

Chennai, January 23: A petition was filed in the Madras High Court on Tuesday seeking to set aside a Tamil Nadu government order declaring January 25 as a government holiday in Chennai and two other districts in view of the England-India one day cricket match.

In a Public Interest Litigation, a city advocate, S Sathia Chandran, contended that the state should not have issued the January 17 a government holiday without taking into consideration, the ramifications and effect it would have on the rights of the public. The holiday was 'arbitrary, illegal and in violation of Article 21 of the constitution', he contended.

By declaring a working day as a holiday in the districts of Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur, it would deny the public access to their respective district administrations.

The holiday was not only discriminatory in nature but also violated Article 14 of the constitution, as it covered state government offices alone and not other institutions and companies, he said

Alleging that the compensatory working day on February 9, a Saturday, in lieu of the holiday, would not serve any real purpose, as employees were likely to take a day's casual leave that day, he said it would also have serious repercussions on the productivity of the state.

The petitioner said the practice of declaring a local holiday for a cricket match over the years spoke volumes 'of never-mind attitude of the government',

Unless the government holiday was stayed by the court, the public would be prejudiced and put to irreparable loss; the petitioner said and also sought a stay on its implementation.