Justice Vaidyanathapuram Rama Iyer Krishna Iyer was an Indian judge who became a pioneer of judicial activism. He pioneered the legal-aid movement in the country. Before that, he was a state minister and politician.
Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a graduate college. The Presidency College is one of the oldest government arts colleges in India. It is one of two Presidency Colleges established by the British in India, the other being the Presidency College, Kolkata.
Jallikattu, also known as Eru Taḻuvuṭal and Manju-virattu, is a traditional event in which a zebu bull, such as the Pulikulam or Kangayam breeds, is released into a crowd of people, and many people attempt to grab the large hump on the bull's back with both arms and hang on to it while the bull attempts to escape. They hold the hump for as long as possible, attempting to bring the bull to a stop. In some cases, they must ride long enough to remove flags on the bull's horns.
M. Fathima Beevi was an Indian judge who was a justice of the Supreme Court of India. Appointed to the apex Court in 1989, she became the first female judge to be a part of the Supreme Court of India, and the first Muslim woman to be appointed to any of the higher judiciaries in the country. On her retirement from the court, she served as a member of the National Human Rights Commission and later as the Governor of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu from 1997 to 2001. In 2023, she was honoured with Kerala Prabha Award, the second-highest honour given by the Government of Kerala. In the 2024 honours list, she was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan.
The high courts of India are the highest courts of appellate jurisdiction in each state and union territory of India. However, a high court exercises its original civil and criminal jurisdiction only if the subordinate courts are not authorized by law to try such matters for lack of peculiar or territorial jurisdiction. High courts may also enjoy original jurisdiction in certain matters, if so designated, especially by the constitution, a state law or union law.
Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, commonly known by its former name Madras Law College, is a law school, located in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. It is also referred to as Government Law College or GLC, Chennai. It was established in 1891. It was renamed in 1990, as Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, by the Government of Tamil Nadu in commemoration of the birth centenary of B. R. Ambedkar. In 1997, the Government of Tamil Nadu passed an Act which brought the college under the wings of the newly established Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, splitting the college from the University of Madras.
Mullaperiyar Dam is a masonry gravity dam on the Periyar River of Idukki district of Indian state of Kerala. It is situated 150km south east of Kochi and 200km north east of state capital city of Trivandrum. It is located 881 m (2,890 ft) above the sea level, on the Cardamom Hills of the Western Ghats in Thekkady, Idukki District of Kerala, India. It was constructed between 1887 and 1895 by John Pennycuick and also reached in an agreement to divert water eastwards to the Madras Presidency area. It has a height of 53.6 m (176 ft) from the foundation, and a length of 365.7 m (1,200 ft). The Periyar National Park in Thekkady is located around the dam's reservoir. The dam is built at the confluence of Mullayar and Periyar rivers. The dam is located in Kerala on the river Periyar, but is operated and maintained by the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. Although the Periyar River has a total catchment area of 5398 km2 with 114 km2 downstream from the dam in Tamil Nadu, the catchment area of the Mullaperiyar Dam itself lies entirely in Kerala and thus not an inter-State river. On 21 November 2014, the water level hit 142 feet for first time in 35 years. The reservoir again hit the maximum limit of 142 feet on 15 August 2018, following incessant rains in the state of Kerala. In a 2021 UNU-INWEH report about ageing large dams around the world, Mullaperiyar was said to be "situated in a seismically active area with significant structural flaws and poses risk to 3.5 million people if the 100+ years old dam were to fail".
Ajit Prakash Shah is the former chairman of the 20th Law Commission of India. He was the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court from May 2008 till his retirement in February 2010.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in Tamil Nadu are the most progressive among all states of India. Tamil Nadu was the first state in India to introduce a transgender welfare policy, wherein transgender individuals can access free gender affirmation surgery in government hospitals and various other benefits and rights. The state was also the first to ban forced sex-selective surgeries on intersex infants, and also the first state to include an amendment in its state police guidelines that expects officers to abstain from harassing the LGBTQIA+ community and its members. The state also became the first to ban conversion therapy as well as the first to introduce LGBTQIA+ issues in school curricula.
Vaiyapuri Periyakaruppiah is a retired judge of the Madras High Court in India.
R. Banumathi is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India. She is from Tamil Nadu and the sixth woman to be a judge of the Supreme Court of India. Earlier, she served as the chief justice of the Jharkhand High Court and judge of the Madras High Court. She also served as the chancellor of Maharashtra National Law University, Aurangabad.
Guna Vasantha Pai was a Senior Advocate of the Madras High Court and Indian Supreme Court, a freedom fighter, activist and a member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council (MLC). He is best known for filing one of the first public interest litigations against the then sitting Chief Justice of the Madras High court S. Ramachandra Iyer after Pai found evidence that the judge had forged his date of birth to avoid compulsory retirement at the age of 60 and the judge's younger brother sent invitations to celebrate his 60th birthday. This led the then Chief Justice of India P. B. Gajendragadkar to ask Ramachandra Iyer to resign as the case would severely damage the judiciary and he resigned before the case came up for hearing. This led the case to be dismissed as he had resigned. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council and he refused to take oath from the then pro-tem chairman, Abdul Wahab as he had advocated secession and swore himself as a legislator. His oath was upheld by the Madras High Court.
Ramalingam Sudhakar is an Indian Judge. He is former Chief Justice of Manipur High Court. He is also former Acting Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court and Judge of Jammu and Kashmir High Court and Madras High Court. He was born on 14 February 1959 and hails from Panapakkam Village, Vellore District in Tamil Nadu. He was overlooked and V. Ramasubramanian was chosen over him as a Supreme Court Judge. The Central Government has approved the appointment of former Chief Justice of Manipur High Court, Justice Ramalingam Sudhakar as the president of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for a period of five years in October 28, 2021. Justice Sudhakar has been appointed for a period of five years from the date of appointment or till he attains the age of 67 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
The following list is a partially completed compilation of events considered to have a profound effect on the welfare or image of Tamil sexual minorities. The use of bold typeface indicates that the event is widely considered to be landmark:
Justice M Sathyanarayanan is Former Judge of the Madras High Court. He was the third judge chosen to deliver the verdict in the Tamil Nadu MLA disqualification case.
Darmar Murugesan is a former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court. He has occupied many key posts in the Judiciary of India. He was elevated as a Judge of the Madras High Court from the Bar. He had formerly occupied the post of Member National Human Rights Commission of India.
Justice Ratnavel Pandian Subbiah is a sitting Judge of the Charted High Court of Madras. Subbiah is the Executive Chairman for the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority. He was elevated as a Judge of High Court of Madras on 24 March 2008.
Honorable Thiru. C. V. Karthikeyan is a sitting Judge of the Madras High Court. He is one of the Members of the Board of Governors of the Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy.
M. M. Sundresh is a judge of the Supreme Court of India. He previously served as a judge of the Madras High Court.
G. R. Swaminathan is an Indian judge of the Madras High Court.
