Beats of an old custom fade away from Keralam’s courts

The drumbeat that once carried royal orders through village streets, and later announced the attachment of properties, will no longer be heard outside Keralam’s courts. The archaic practice is now set to pass into history.

The Kerala High Court’s Rules Committee has decided to remove the provision for the traditional “tom-tom” and “kinnam mutti vilambaram” used to inform the public about property attachment proceedings. The change follows a campaign by rights activist Boban Mattumanta, who questioned the need for a colonial-era practice at a time when notices, newspapers, television and social media can reach far more people.

The tom-toming tradition goes back to the days of princely rule. When the king had an order to announce, officials would gather people in markets and other public places. A drumbeat would draw attention before the order was read out. The British later adopted a similar method to make property attachment proceedings public. The practice continued under Sub-rule 2 of Rule 54 of Order XXI of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

While drum-beating had largely disappeared from district courts in Palakkad, Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode, the beating of a metal plate continued in some places. The announcements were also entered in court records.

Tom-tom charges

There was even a charge for it. Information obtained under the Right to Information Act showed that the Palakkad District Court, Sub Court and Munsiff Court collected ₹56,600 as “tom-tom charges” between January and October 2022. It was in 2016 that the tom tom charges were increased from ₹15 to ₹100.

“It is strange that no one questioned this archaic practice even in 2016, when the tom tom charge was raised from ₹15 to ₹100. It shows how lethargic our system had become,” said Mr. Mattumantha.

For centuries, the sound of drums and metal plates served one purpose: to make sure that a court announcement did not go unheard. But times have changed. With information now travelling through print, television and digital platforms, the old sound has lost its place in court procedure.

With the provision now being removed, a practice that began with royal proclamations and survived through the colonial and modern judicial systems is finally falling silent.