A week after the first bench of the Madras high court vacated a ban on the use of pictures of living people on banners and hoardings, a single judge of the court refused to close a contempt plea against the chief minister and his deputy for violating the ban. “Whether the contempt petition should be proceeded with or not, would be decided based on the observations in the writ appeal,” Justice S Vaidyanathan said on December 22. “Only after going through the order passed by the division bench and ascertaining whether the entire order of this court dated October 23 had been interfered with, can this court proceed with the contempt petition.” “Anyhow, leaving it open to decide all issues, after going through the order passed by the division bench, further orders will be passed in this contempt petition.” The case pertains to an October 23 order banning the use of pictures of living people on banners and hoardings, to check the menace they pose across the state.