The Madras High Court on Friday directed the Tamil Nadu government to ask all schools and colleges in the state to ban beauty contests.
The court passed interim orders after a petition was filed by the mother of an engineering student, who had won a beauty contest in “Techofes”, organised by the College of Engineering, Guindy in Chennai in the year 2013, but was allegedly not paid the assured prize of Rs. 25 lakh. Besides the prize money, the student is also seeking additional Rs. 5 lakh for “mental agony”.
The petitioner claims three months after the event, organisors gave her a forged winner’s certificate. The University did not file any counter but their counsel pleaded ignorance. However the judge, Justice TS Sivagnanam, observed that when an event takes place in the university premises, it is presumed that it has the institution’s approval.
Passing the interim order, the Judge however came down on the petitioner and added “It is not known as to how walking the ramp would benefit a student pursuing a course in Engineering.”
The court will hear the case again on February 20.