Two candidates from private nursing schools challenged the Tamil Nadu Medical Subordinate Service Rules which state that only persons passing out from government nursing schools are entitled to get appointments at government hospitals. The petitioners said the provision violated Article 14 (right to equality) and 16 (equality of opportunity in matters of public employment). Upholding the petitioners’ plea, the Madras High Court held that a person cannot be treated differently merely because he went to a private institution. The court directed the government to treat the petitioners in the same way as candidates who attended government nursing colleges (M. Bhuvaneswari and another vs State of Tamil Nadu).
The Andhra Pradesh High Court increased the compensation awarded to the next of kin of a senior government employee who was killed in an accident. A tribunal constituted under the Motor Vehicles Act had awarded a compensation of Rs 5,85,500 on the basis of the deceased’s salary at the time of the accident. The high court, however, hiked the compensation to Rs 8,73,500. The court held that since there was 100 per cent job security in government services, promotions were mostly guaranteed and enhancement of pay periodical, a compensation based on the salary drawn at the time of accident was inadequate (Gangavarapu alias V. Pulmani vs Balmuri Venkateswarlu).
Authorities initiated proceedings against the manufacturers and agents selling a certain brand of ice cream on the ground that its fat content was below the percentage prescribed in the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act. The accused, however, were acquitted and the state appealed against the decision. Dismissing the appeal, the Karnataka High Court held that ice cream produced by small-time manufacturers were more affordable than those produced by big companies. Though not of the best quality, the ice cream may not necessarily pose a health hazard, the court said. Under the circumstances, the accused could not be held guilty of an offence under the PFA Act, it ruled (State of Karnataka vs M/s Shetty Ice Cream Company and others).
SOLON
