The Madras High Court on Monday dismissed a petition that sought an interim stay on the Tamil Nadu government’s ‘Vijay Yatra’ scheme.
The scheme, expanded by the state government, allows women to travel free of cost on government buses. Chief Minister Vijay inaugurated the initiative on October 2.
The petition was filed by Kalamani, a private bus owner from Erode district. He argued that the government had not accepted the private bus owners’ federation’s demand to extend the scheme to private buses with compensation, and claimed that no government order had been issued for the programme.
A bench comprising Chief Justice S.A. Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arulmurugan observed that the petitioner, who has permission to operate buses only on two routes, could not challenge a decision applicable across the entire state. The judges noted that he had challenged only an announcement made in the Assembly under Rule 110 and not any government order, and said the matter could not be treated as a public interest litigation.
Following the withdrawal of the petition, the High Court dismissed the case.
