- Court
- High Court of Madras
- Decided
- 25 March 2026
- Bench
- S. M. Subramaniam, K. Surender
- Case no.
- CONT P 4094/2025
Judgment
Page1 of 9 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS DATED: 25-03-2026 CORAM THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE S. M. SUBRAMANIAM AND THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE K. SURENDER CONT P No. 4094 & 4252 of 2025 and CONT P No. 537, 539, 541 & 935 of 2026 Cont.P.No.4094 of 2025 S.Sivaramakrishnan, S/o. V.Subramaniam, No. 85/A, Sri Ganesh Nagar, Athanamcherry Padapai, Kanchipuram District Pin - 601 301. ..Petitioner(s) Vs Tmt. R.Gajalakshmi, I.A.S., The Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Fisheries Development Corporation Ltd., Chennai - 600 035. ..Contemnor(s) CONT P No. 4252 of 2025 D.Padmanabhan S/o. M.Deivasigamani, No.34/18, Lakshmi Amman Koil Street, Perambur, Chennai - 600011. ..Petitioner(s) Vs R.Gajalakshmi, I.A.S., The Managing Director, TamilNadu Fisheries Development Corporation Page2 of 9 Ltd., No.485, Anna Salai, Chennai - 600 035. CONT P No. 537 of 2026
¶1Tmt. Tamilarasi and another W/o. Late V.Sundaram,
¶2Mrs. M.Gayathree Daughter of V.Sundaram (Respondents Nos 6.1 and 6.2 in SLP (C) Nos 006507 to 006518 of 2021) Both are legal heirs of late V.Sundaram, (Respondent No.2 in W.A.No. 1167 of 2011 And residing at No. 23, Mattu kazhani Street, Adambakkam, Chennai - 600 088. Vs Tmt.R.Gajalakshmi, I.A.S., Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Fisheries Development Corporation Ltd., Chennai-600 035. CONT P No. 539 of 2026
¶1Mrs. Irudaya Mary and 2 others W/o. Late. T.Lawrence
¶2Ms. L.Joya Arokia Mary D/o. Late. T.Lawrence Both are residing at No. 39/14, Minor Trustpuram 3rd Cross Street, Kodambakkam, Chennai - 600 024.
¶3Thiru. L.John Thomas S/o. Late T.Lawrence No. 44/7, Kolamamari Amman Street, T.Nagar, Chennai - 600 017. (Respondents nos. 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 in ..Contemnor(s) Page3 of 9 SL (C) Nos. 006507 to 006518 of 2021) All are Legal Heirs of Late T.Lawrence (Respondent in W.A.No. 1165 of 2011) Ex.Employee of Tamil Nadu Fisheries Development Corporation Ltd., Chennai - 35. Vs Tmt. R.Gajalakshmi, I.A.S., Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Fisheries Development Corporation Ltd., Chennai-600 035. CONT P No. 541 of 2026
¶1Tmt. P.Vasanthakumari and 4 others W/o. Late C.P.Pandian
¶2P.Venkataraman S/o. of C.P.Pandian, Both are residing at Flat SD, S.S.Arjuna Apartments, VGP Rajesh Nagar 1st Street, Pallikaranai, Chennai - 600 100.
¶3Tmt. P.Chitra D/o. C.P.Pandian, Sri Sai Apartments No. 53/51, 3rd Street, Rajanagar, S.Kolathur, Kovilambakkam, Chennai 600 129.
¶4Tmt. P.Jamuna, D/o. C.P.Pandian, No. 178-A, KVR Manor, 7th Cross Street, Kamakotinagar, Pallikarani, Chennai 600 100.
¶5Tmt. P.Indira, D/o. C.P.Pandian, Page4 of 9 No. 5, Flat CC, SaiAsheervad Apartments, 1st Street, SriKarumari Amman Nagar, Velachery, Chennai - 600 042. All are Legal Heirs of Late C.P.Pandian (Respondent in W.A.No. 1163 of 2011) Ex. Employee of Tamil Nadu Fisheries Development Corporation Ltd., Chennai - 35. Vs Tmt. R.Gajalakshmi, IAS., Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Fisheries Development Corporation Ltd., Chennai-600 035. CONT P No. 935 of 2026
¶1G.Senthil and 2 others S/o. Late M.Gandhi, No. 6/875, Thiruvalluvar Nagar, Siruvachur and P.O., Thalaivasa Taulk, Salem District - 636 112.
¶2S.Muthamilselvi D/o. Late M.Gandhi, No. 12280/1, Anna Nagar, Ramanaickenpalayam, Attur Taluk, Salem District - 636 108.
¶3R.Jayabharathi D/o. Late M.Gandhi, 39, Rajiv Gandhi Nagar, Mel Ayanambakkam, Thiruvallur District - 600 095. All are Legal Heirs of Page5 of 9 Late M.Gandhi (Respondent in W.A.No.1171 of 2011) Ex.Employee of Tamil Nadu, Fisheries Development Corporation Ltd., Chennai - 35. ..Petitioner(s) Vs Tmt. R.Gajalakshmi, IAS., The Managing Director, TamilNadu Fisheries Development Corporation Ltd., Chennai - 600 035. ..Contemnor(s) To commit and punish the respondent for committing gross contempt of this Hon'ble Court by deliberately willfully disobeying the order of this Hon'ble Court made in W.A.No. 1172 of 2011 dated 05.02.2020 CONT P No. 4252 of 2025 To commit and punish the respondent for committing gross contempt of this Hon'ble Court made in W.A.No.1162 of 2011 dated
05.02.2020 with heavy costs. CONT P No. 537 of 2026 To commit and punish the respondent for committing gross contempt of this Hon'ble Court by deliberately willfully disobeying the order of this Hon'ble Court made in W.A.No. 1167 of 2011 dated 05.02.2020 CONT P No. 539 of 2026 To commit and punish the respondent for committing gross contempt of this Hon'ble Court by deliberately willfully disobeying the order of this Hon'ble Court made in W.A.No. 1167 of 2011 dated 05.02.2020 CONT P No. 541 of 2026 To commit and punish the respondent for committing gross contempt of this Hon'ble Court by deliberately willfully disobeying the order of Page6 of 9 this Hon'ble Court made in W.A.No. 1163 of 2011 dated 05.02.2020 CONT P No. 935 of 2026 To punish the respondent for committing gross contempt of this Hon'ble Court by deliberately willfully disobeying the order of this Hon'ble Court made in W.A.No. 1171 of 2011 dated 05.02.2020 For Petitioner(s): Mr.K.M.Ramesh, Senior Counsel for Mr.S.Ayyathurai For Contemnor(s): Mr.Hajanazirudeen, Addl.Advocate General asst. by Mr.R.Kumaravel, Addl.G.P. COMMON ORDER (Order of the Court was made by S.M.Subramaniam J.) The present contempt petitions have been instituted to punish the respondents for their wilful disobeyance of the orders of this Court dated
05.02.2020 passed in W.A.Nos.1162, 1163, 1165, 1167, 1171 & 1172 of 2011.
¶2Mr.K.M.Ramesh, learned Senior Counsel would mainly contend that the present contempt petitions have been instituted pursuant to the order dated 15.12.2021 passed in the Contempt Petition Nos.230, 346 to 354 of 2021. In the said order, this Court granted liberty to the petitioners to file contempt petitions in the event of their succeeding in the Special Leave Petitions pending before the Hon'ble Supreme Court. The Hon'ble Supreme Page7 of 9 Court passed a final orders on 20.05.2025 in S.L.Ps. Paragraph Nos.7 and 8 of the order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court are extracted hereunder
¶7The petitioner's has deposited Rs.30,00,000/- (Rupees Thirty lakh) only in terms of a previous order of this Court dated 12.11.2021 with the Registry. Such amount, along with accrued interest thereon, shall be distributed equally amongst the said twelve workmen in accordance with law, as and when an approach in that behalf is made.
¶8The said twelve workmen shall be at liberty to approach the Labour Court under Section 33-C(2) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 for quantification of their dues. If such an approach is made, the Labour Court shall decide the claim in accordance to law.
¶3Learned Additional Advocate General appearing on behalf of the respondents would mainly contend that with reference to the pleadings filed before the Hon'ble Supreme Court, the Court considered and in paragraph 7 directed to disburse the deposited amount of Rs.30 lakhs equally amongst twelve workmen in accordance with law. In paragraph No.8, the Hon'ble Apex Court granted liberty to the workmen to approach the Labour Court under Section 33-C(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, for quantification of their dues, if it is over and above Rs.30 lakhs which was directed to be paid to twelve workmen. In view of the order passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, the present contempt petitions are not entertainable and the petitioners have to approach the Labour Curt concerned by an instituting appropriate petition under Section 33(C)(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act. Page8 of 9
¶4Learned Senior counsel would submit that the workmen will file petitions within a short span of time.
¶5If any such petition is filed, the Labour Court is requested to entertain the claim petition without reference to limitation and decide the matter on merits as expeditiously as possible. Accordingly, the Contempt Petitions stand disposed of. No costs. (S.M.S.,J.) (K.S.,J.) 25-03-2026 Index: Yes/No Speaking/Non-speaking order VSI CONToPoNo.o4094oofo2025 S.M.SUBRAMANIAMeJ. AND K.SURENDEReJ. vsi CONTePeNo.e4094e&e4252eofe2025 and CONTePeNo.e537,e539,e541e&e935eofe2026 25-03-2026 Page9oofo9
Source: High Court of Madras, through the eCourts High Court services, via the Indian High Court Judgments open dataset by Dattam Labs (CC BY 4.0). Text was extracted from the official PDF and may contain conversion errors. Check the official PDF before relying on it.