Madurai: The Madras High Court on Thursday pulled up the Tamil Nadu government for not including photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu in advertisements for the 44th session of the Chess Olympiad being held in Madurai.

Chief Justice M.N. Bhandari and Justice S. Ananti’s bench set aside the reasons given by the state government for not including photographs of the two.

The bench said that in the matter of public events, keeping in view the national interest and the directions of the Supreme Court, it should be ensured that whether a dignitary like the President or the Prime Minister accepts an invitation to an international event or not, their photos should be there because they represent the country at the international level.

The bench directed Madurai resident R. Made this remark while disposing of a PIL filed by Rajesh Kumar. In the petition, only the state Chief Minister M.K. The use of Stalin’s picture was termed illegal, arbitrary and in many cases in violation of the directions issued by the apex court.

The petitioner had requested the court to direct the Tamil Nadu government to include photographs of the President and the Prime Minister in the advertisements. Hearing on this, the court has ordered the state government to place the picture of both the top leaders in the advertisements.

Kumar said in his petition that the 44th Chess Olympiad is going to start from Thursday in Mamallapuram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated this competition. The said tournament, which is scheduled to run from July 28 to August 10, is largely sponsored by public tax.

The petitioner said, “This is an occasion which can bring pride to the country at the international level. But the ruling party (in Tamil Nadu) used it as a program for their political gains. Apart from photographs, only Chief Minister Stalin’s picture has been put in these advertisements.”