Plea to convene Madurai Corporation Council meeting

A retired employee of Madurai Corporation has filed a public interest litigation petition before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court seeking a direction to the Corporation to convene the Corporation Council meeting.

A Division Bench of Justices G. Jayachandran and K.K. Ramakrishnan sought the response of the Madurai Corporation Commissioner to a petition filed by T.R. Desikachary. The petitioner said no Council meeting was convened for the past three months.

He said the prolonged failure to convene statutory meetings resulted in several agenda items, public welfare measures, financial approvals and civic issues remaining unaddressed, thereby paralysing democratic functioning at the municipal level.

He said in October 2025, the Mayor V. Indrani Ponvasanth tendered her resignation from the post. She submitted the resignation letter to the Corporation Commissioner, after months of political and administrative turbulence arising from the 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 had submitted their resignations amid the probe into the property tax assessment process, which included alleged manipulation of records, he said.

He said Madurai 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 Swachh Survekshan 2024-25 rankings.

Functioning of the Corporation Council is governed by Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act and Rules which together constitute a complete statutory code ensuring democratic governance, accountability, and transparency, he said. The court posted the matter for hearing to January 28.