Beats of an old custom fade away from Keralam’s courts
After a rights activist’s campaign, the Kerala High Court’s Rules Committee voted to eliminate the centuries‑old practice of using drums and wooden clappers to signal property attachment notices in court. The custom, known locally as ‘tom‑tom’ and ‘kinnam mutti vilambaram’, originated in princely times, persisted through the colonial era, and remains in limited use in some courts.