MADURAI: A video showing a lawyer from

threatening an eatery owner near the

for displaying the name in Hindi more prominently than Tamil is being circulated on social media in the last couple of days.

While some supported the lawyer’s argument, his threatening tone has not gone down well with others.

Theeran Thirumurugan, the advocate in question, said the government rule states that Tamil gets prominent display on boards. If the proprietor wants to use multiple languages it has to be in 5:3:2 ratio, where Tamil font needs to be in bigger size, followed by English. Other language fonts should be smaller than these two languages, he said.

He had filed a case in the

bench of the Madras high court and got orders from the court directing the authorities concerned in 2017 to enforce the rule. The labour department has the power to enforce and take action against the erring shop owners. He had also filed contempt petitions. “Despite all efforts, the rule is grossly violated. I have visited many private offices and government officials to rectify the violation whenever I came across them and they have abided. I spotted the hotel five days ago when I visited the Meenakshi temple,” Thirumurugan, who is also the state general secretary of Tamilar Katchi, said.

“When I go and tell the violators that there is a rule, nobody pays heed to it. I have no other option but to take law into my own hands, when the rule is repeatedly violated and I will keep doing it,” he said. K P Shah of Madurai North Indian Welfare Association said that most people from other states settled in Madurai know to read and write Tamil and they respect the language. Except for a few shops like the eatery, all of them have boards prominently displaying in

since they know the rule.

“If someone violates the rule no one should take it in their own hands. It will lead to lawlessness. There are officials to deal with it,” he said. State secretary of People’s Union for Civil Liberties R Murali said that all shops should have boards prominently displaying Tamil. It cannot be accepted when an individual takes law into their hands to get the limelight. He should have taken the legal route, he said.