Overview

• A bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and N V Anjaria overturned the Madras High Court’s July 31 interim order against naming schemes after living leaders.
• The Madras High Court had barred the use of names of living personalities, photographs of former chief ministers and party symbols in government welfare programme promotions.
• AIADMK MP C Ve Shanmugam was fined ₹10 lakh for filing what the Supreme Court deemed a misconceived petition and the amount must fund underprivileged welfare schemes.
• The apex court noted that governments nationwide, including in Tamil Nadu under AIADMK and at the Centre under PM Modi, routinely brand public initiatives with leaders’ names or images.
• The ruling reaffirmed existing Supreme Court and Election Commission guidelines and warned that courts should not be deployed to settle political disputes.