CHENNAI: The Madras high court on Monday dismissed a 'public interest writ petition' that objected to the court granting four to five days of holidays on occasion of 'north Indian' festivals like Diwali . The court also imposed an exemplary cost of Rs 20,000 on the petitioner.

Slamming a journalist who had filed the PIL and accusing him of raising divisive issues for publicity, the first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M Sathyanarayanan said: "There is no north-south divide, but for the endeavours of persons like the petitioners, who seek to raise divisive issues only to gain publicity and create unrest among people. It is necessary for this court to come down with heavy hands on such endeavours."

Petitioner V Anbazhagan, claiming that till a couple of decades ago, the high court had been granting just a day's leave on Diwali, said successive chief justices from north India had increased the number of holidays after the north Indian festival had been thrust on Tamils. Long holidays would render advocates jobless, the PIL said.

Criticizing the content as well as attitude displayed in the petition, the first bench said the court's calendar was prepared after a lot of deliberations, including discussions with representatives of advocates.

"Whether advocates are rendered jobless or not is not the concern of the PIL petitioner, as advocates and their representatives are consulted during the framing of the calendar. It need not be the concern of all and sundry, who want to gain public importance through such means," the judges said.

"We strongly condemn the motive for filing this petition. It seeks to raise divisive issue of mythological nature," they said, adding that the court should take deterrent measures.

India is a vast country with various cultures, language and food habits, which is something the nation should be proud of, they observed, adding, "All these cultures combined together form the nation of India. It is something to be celebrated. It should not segregate the country into two parts by raising divisive issues, as the petitioner seeks to do."

The bench asked the petitioner to deposit the cost within 15 days at the mediation centre of the court.

