Madras High Court disposes of PIL on dhoti issue

Taking note of a Bill passed by the state assembly banning such dress codes, the Madras High Court on Wednesday disposed of a PIL seeking a direction to Tamil Nadu government to frame rules and regulations for clubs in the wake of denial of entry to a dhoti-clad high court judge and a senior advocate into TNCA Club.

A division bench, comprising Justice S Rajeswaran and Justice PN Prakash, disposed of the petition after the counsel for petitioner, S Karthik, submitted a copy of the Tamil Nadu Entry into public Places (Removal of Restriction on Dress) Act 2014, passed by the assembly on Tuesday.

"Taking note of the fact that a bill has been passed by the Assembly, nothing much remains to be considered in the matter," it ruled. 

Referring to last month's incident when the Judge was not allowed to enter the TNCA Club to attend a book release function since he was wearing dhoti, the petitioner had sought a direction to authorities to formulate regulations in the functioning of all clubs in the state.

He had contended that the action of the respondent clubs and associations in prescribing a dress code was against either law or on facts and it was without any legal sanctity.