Checkmate: HC says PM & Prez Pics must in olympiad ads

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court’s Madurai bench on Thursday ruled that the government should ensure that the photographs of both the Prime Minister and Chief Minister find place in the advertisements related to the 44th Chess Olympiad being conducted in Chennai.

“We direct the State government to ensure that the photographs of both the President and Prime Minister of India are published in all the advertisements, whether in print or electronic media, in relation to the Chess Olympiad,” the bench comprising of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice S Ananthi passed the direction on hearing a petition filed by R Rajesh Kumar.

The petitioner sought direction from the court to the State government to advertise/promote the 44th Chess Olympiad with the photographs of the Prime Minister and President of India. He also wanted the State to apologise before the public for using only the CM’s photo for an event held with public money.

Recording the submissions, the judges stressed that the State government should take care that if any international event is hosted in the State, “the directives issued in the case of common cause, supra, are adhered to stricto sensu, by including the names of the dignitaries as stipulated therein.”

R Shunmugasundaram, Advocate General, submitted that the State government never intended to exclude the publication of the photographs of the President or the Prime Minister in the advertisements.

“During the groundwork for the tournament, the Presidential elections were not concluded. Therefore, the State could not include the photograph of the President,” the AG submitted. He further submitted that the PM’s consent to inaugurate the function was given only on July 22 and the photograph of the PM is published pursuant to his consent in all the advertisements.

However, the bench noted that the ads had come without the image of the President even after the Presidential elections were completed. “We would like to say that the interest of the nation should be of paramount importance in the mind of every citizen. International events hosted in the country carry the image of the country in international fora,” the CJ bench added.

The court also noted that “it is more so when our country is known for its hospitality and efficiency. Thus, the image of the nation should be of foremost concern to everyone and such representation, obviously, would be under the aegis of the President and Prime Minister of India, apart from the Chief Minister of the State, where the tournament is hosted.”

HC directed the district administration to ensure that no damage is caused to any of the advertisements carrying the President and PM’s photos. “If any such activities are reported, strict action should be taken against such personnel,” the judges ordered.

There has never been a better time for sports in India, says PM

The Prime Minister said there has never been a better time for sports in India. “Be it Olympics, Paralympics or Deaflympics, we have achieved glory unlike in the past,” said the PM adding India’s sporting culture is becoming stronger due to a perfect mix of youth energy and grooming environment.

Modi also recalled the highlights of the 44th Chess Olympiad. “This Olympiad has the highest number of players, teams, and women players compared to previous one. This is the first ever Olympiad where a torch relay was conducted. From now, the torch relay for all future Chess Olympiads will commence from India. The torch for the Olympiad traversed 75 cities and 27,000 kilometres before reaching Chennai,” he said.

Earlier, the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad commenced with bright colours with the cultural events. Foreign players got a taste of Tamil culture with various cultural events starting from traditional dances of eight different states. However, the show stealer was the keyboard performance by upcoming musician Lydian Nadhaswaram who gave a stellar performance.

He started with a single music track and went on to play blind folded. As a special feat he played two pieces of instruments — the theme music of Harry Potter with left hand and theme music of Mission Impossible with right hand.