Madurai corpn council meeting on Feb 10: Authorities to HC

Madurai: Madurai corporation authorities on Wednesday informed Madras high court that the corporation commissioner has issued notice to convene the council meeting on Feb 10.Taking into account the submissions that the council meeting would be convened on Feb 10, a division bench of justice G Jayachandran and justice K K Ramakrishnan disposed of a public interest litigation filed by T R Desikachary of Madurai, a retired corporation employee.The petitioner stated that in Oct 2025, mayor of Madurai corporation Indrani Ponvasanth tendered her resignation, citing personal and family reasons, after months of political and administrative turbulence arising from alleged large-scale irregularities in property tax assessments in Madurai city. Prior to her resignation, five zonal chairpersons and two standing committee chairpersons of the corporation submitted their resignations to the mayor amid an escalating probe into the property tax scam, which included alleged manipulation of records.He stated that the corporation is currently under significant public and administrative scrutiny due to its poor performance on urban sanitation and civic service delivery, as highlighted by the resurfacing of the Swachh Survekshan 2024-25 rankings, in which Madurai placed last among 40 cities with a population exceeding one million. Residents remain sceptical about the pace and effectiveness of improvements, citing persistent waste accumulation in some localities, insufficient street-level services, and leadership gaps due to the absence of an elected mayor and zonal chairpersons.He stated that the council meeting of the corporation was not conducted for the past three months. The Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act and Rules mandate the convening of an ordinary meeting of the council at least once in every month. The absence of an elected mayor does not justify the suspension of council meetings.The petitioner stated that, in the absence of regular council meetings, critical resolutions relating to public health, sanitation, solid waste management, drinking water supply, roads, stormwater drains, urban planning, and disaster preparedness remain unapproved, delayed, or implemented without democratic sanction. This directly impacts the daily lives of lakhs of residents of Madurai city and erodes public confidence in local body governance. Hence, the petitioner moved court seeking a direction to the authorities to conduct council meetings of Madurai corporation.