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Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram should abide by the time frame says Madras HC
Kalaimamani Awards are a set of awards given in the state of Tamil Nadu. The awards are given by The Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram of Tamil Nadu. The awards were first given in the year 1954 and have been in place ever since. The awards are a way to commemorate the artists in the field of art and literature for their extraordinary work.
The list of awardees is decided and announced by the Government of Tamil Nadu every year but since 2011 the government has not been able to give away the awards. Hence, the number of awardees for the year 2019 was more than 200 which created a huge confusion.
The department of tourism, culture and religion announced the names of the awardees for the years 2011 to 2018 through a Government Order and a function for the same was to be conducted on August 13th 2019. S. Mariappan who is a Nadaswaram artist challenged the order of the department before the Madras High Court on the grounds of it being violative of the norms of the awards.
The petitioner challenged the awards announced on the basis that two of the awards have been awarded to artists who are dead. Further the petition claims that there are many mistakes in the list of awardees. The artists and their concurrent specialties do not match and hence it demands that the list of awardees should be reviewed.
The petition mentions about one Govindrajan who performs Marakkal Attam while in the list of awardees he has been awarded for Kokkalikattai Attam. All these allegations were closely heard and reviewed by the Madras High Court. And the court came to a conclusion that the award given to Govindrajan is wrong because he does not perform that art and hence his award has been cancelled by the Madras HC.
Another allegation was against one A K B Kathirvelu. He has authored 38 books and is considered to be a stage artist. Hon’ble Justice R Suresh Kumar inferred that since he has authored so many books, all on different subjects then he cannot be confined to be a stage performer only. Hence, all the allegations made against him are not correct and they cannot be accepted.
The third allegation was made against one A P Iyyavu. He is an expert in the field of Naiyandi Mela Nadaswaram and this has been clarified by the documents submitted by him to the Department. And in the list of awardees his award is for excellence in the field of Nadaswaram only. Hence, all the allegations made against the award in his favour are baseless and do not confide with the other ground facts. So the allegations here are also dismissed.
While summing up the case the Hon’ble Justices of the Madras High Court held that all this confusion in the list has been caused due to the delay in the award ceremonies over the years. The court said that the Mandram was established with an intention to acknowledge the extraordinary work of the artistes in their respective fields. But the Mandram and the Department of Tourism, Culture and Religion has failed to comply with its work and hence the situation has become tense.
The High Court ordered the Mandram and the Department of Tourism, Culture and Religion to abide by the time limitations of announcing the names of the awardees and in conducting the respective award function. Further they held that the list of the awardees names should be declared on or before the 30th day of June in every year. This would ensure the smooth functioning of the Kalaimamani Awards in future.
