A division bench of the Madras High Court has given one week to the Advocate General of Tamil Nadu to find out whether any relevant rules and regulations prescribing a dress code for state ministers exist. A bench of Justices D Krishnakumar and PB Balaji was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed against Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s casual dress code.

The bench directed the petitioner, M Sathya Kumar, and Tamil Nadu Advocate General PS Raman to find out the relevant rules and regulations, if any, within a week and place them before the division bench during the next hearing. Sathiya Kumar, a lawyer from Selaiyur in Chennai, had filed the case complaining about the Deputy Chief Minister wearing T-shirts with the DMK’s election symbol ‘rising sun’ even at government events.

In the PIL, the litigant sought a directive to Udhayanidhi Stalin to adhere to a government order (GO) issued on June 1, 2019, laying down the dress code to be followed by government servants. However, the AG told the court that the GO was with respect to government servants and not Ministers, who were public servants. He also pointed out that the 2019 GO relied upon by the petitioner only states that casual attire should be “avoided” and does not prohibit it in toto.

The AG also pointed out to the court that the Deputy Chief Minister wears T-shirts because he finds them comfortable. He also informed the division bench of the Madras High Court that the Chief Executive Officers of many top global corporate companies wear T-shirts for public events and therefore, the attire could not be considered inappropriate. The judges asked the AG to take notice on behalf of the state government and make his submissions elaborately after a week.

Advocate Sathya Kumar, who filed the PIL, in his affidavit claimed that his grandfather G Sundarama Reddiar was a farmers’ union leader who worked closely with former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi. He said DMK strives to protect Tamil cultural identity and therefore, is very particular about the dress to be worn by its cadre.

The petitioner claimed DMK founder CN Annadurai, as well as his successor Karunanidhi, had adopted a combination of western and Tamil attire and added that this was to give a clear message that the DMK was a Dravidian political party that accepted both modernity and tradition. The petitioner also said that Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu MK Stalin was also following the legacy of the Dravidian movement and added that it was disheartening and disappointing to see a leader like Udhayanidhi, who is the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, wearing T-shirts and casual wear for all government programmes.

The petitioner further said, “He (Udhayanidhi Stalin) is also wearing jeans and informal footwear which does not qualify as formal attire and results in violation of the prescribed dress code as per the Tamil Nadu GO.” The petitioner also complained about the DMK election symbol having been embroidered on Udhayanidhi’s T-shirts.