Justice Anand Venkatesh made the remark while hearing a petition filed by poet and lyricist Vairamuthu, challenging the cancellation of a housing allotment under the Dream Home Scheme for Writers.
Published Aug 08, 2025 | 3:08 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 08, 2025 | 3:08 PM
High Court of Madras. (Creative Commons)
Synopsis: The Madras High Court issued sharp criticism over the functioning of the state bureaucracy, observing that IAS officers appear to be running a parallel government in Tamil Nadu.
The Madras High Court on Friday, 8 August, issued sharp criticism over the functioning of the state bureaucracy, observing that IAS officers appear to be running a parallel government in Tamil Nadu, a situation the court called “unfortunate and dangerous”.
Justice Anand Venkatesh made the remark while hearing a petition filed by poet and lyricist Vairamuthu, challenging the cancellation of a housing allotment under the Dream Home Scheme for Writers.
The judge was responding to a complaint that the state government had appealed against an earlier order to allot a house to senior IPS officer Thilakavathi, while withdrawing similar allotments to writers.
“The allotment of houses to writers is an emotional and symbolic gesture. It is something IAS officers clearly fail to understand,” the judge said.
Expressing dismay, Justice Venkatesh remarked, “It is unfortunate that IAS and IPS officers are acting like a parallel government. If allowed to continue, this will create a serious crisis. Karunanidhi would never have tolerated this.”
The case is scheduled for further hearing in the afternoon.
(With inputs from Subash Chandra Bose.)
