HC comes down on Madurai Collector
For laying road through a Panchayat Union Primary School land at Karungalakudi
The
Madras High Court Bench here on Friday came down heavily upon Madurai
Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao for ordering laying of a road through a
Panchayat Union Primary School land at Karungalakudi in Melur Taluk near
here to allegedly facilitate easy access to a real estate project from
Karungalakudi-Singampunari main road.
A Division Bench of Justices K.K. Sasidharan and G.R. Swaminathan granted an interim injunction restraining the Collector from laying the road after finding “considerable force” in the submissions made by a public interest litigation petitioner M. Srinivasan (40) of Karungalakudi that the road was being laid only to benefit real estate developers.
Since the petitioner’s counsel B.S. Meltiue told the court that the road-laying work had begun on Tuesday despite objections raised by the villagers, the judges directed R. Chellapandian, Deputy Block Development Officer of Kottampatti Panchayat Union, who was present in the court, to inform the Collector over phone to stop the work forthwith.
During the course of arguments, Mr. Justice Sasidharan told Special Government Pleader M. Govindan that a Collector was supposed to work for the welfare of the people and “not to act like Hitler.”
Recording that they had passed the interim injunction at 10.50 a.m, the judges made clear that no work should have been carried out in Karungalakudi after that point of time.
In his affidavit, the petitioner had claimed that his grandfather Mounampillai had donated 2.75 acres in the village for the construction of the school during the British regime in 1908. Till recent times, it was the only school which imparted primary education to the children living in and around Karungalakudi.
Alleging that a family involved in real estate business owned about 100 acres adjacent to the school, the petitioner said that it had converted the property into residential plots, besides constructing houses for rent as well as sale. The businessmen had made a representation to the Collector to lay a road to their property in the guise of public interest.
Acting upon it, a portion of the compound wall as well as one of the school buildings, in good condition, were demolished, the petitioner alleged and pointed out that the Additional Collector had instructed the authorities concerned, on more than one occasion, to construct the compound wall to protect the interests of the students.
“However, no compound wall was constructed,” the affidavit read and stated that the Collector had issued an order on September 15 last to lay the road and kept in cold storage for long “for reasons best known to him.” It added that the Collector’s order was forwarded to the Kottampatti BDO only June 27.
Subsequently, “the respondents 6 (Kottampatti Panchyat Union Commissioner) and 10 (BDO) came to the school premises with police force on July 4 and commenced the road work on the school land,” the petitioner claimed.
A Division Bench of Justices K.K. Sasidharan and G.R. Swaminathan granted an interim injunction restraining the Collector from laying the road after finding “considerable force” in the submissions made by a public interest litigation petitioner M. Srinivasan (40) of Karungalakudi that the road was being laid only to benefit real estate developers.
Since the petitioner’s counsel B.S. Meltiue told the court that the road-laying work had begun on Tuesday despite objections raised by the villagers, the judges directed R. Chellapandian, Deputy Block Development Officer of Kottampatti Panchayat Union, who was present in the court, to inform the Collector over phone to stop the work forthwith.
During the course of arguments, Mr. Justice Sasidharan told Special Government Pleader M. Govindan that a Collector was supposed to work for the welfare of the people and “not to act like Hitler.”
Recording that they had passed the interim injunction at 10.50 a.m, the judges made clear that no work should have been carried out in Karungalakudi after that point of time.
In his affidavit, the petitioner had claimed that his grandfather Mounampillai had donated 2.75 acres in the village for the construction of the school during the British regime in 1908. Till recent times, it was the only school which imparted primary education to the children living in and around Karungalakudi.
Alleging that a family involved in real estate business owned about 100 acres adjacent to the school, the petitioner said that it had converted the property into residential plots, besides constructing houses for rent as well as sale. The businessmen had made a representation to the Collector to lay a road to their property in the guise of public interest.
Acting upon it, a portion of the compound wall as well as one of the school buildings, in good condition, were demolished, the petitioner alleged and pointed out that the Additional Collector had instructed the authorities concerned, on more than one occasion, to construct the compound wall to protect the interests of the students.
“However, no compound wall was constructed,” the affidavit read and stated that the Collector had issued an order on September 15 last to lay the road and kept in cold storage for long “for reasons best known to him.” It added that the Collector’s order was forwarded to the Kottampatti BDO only June 27.
Subsequently, “the respondents 6 (Kottampatti Panchyat Union Commissioner) and 10 (BDO) came to the school premises with police force on July 4 and commenced the road work on the school land,” the petitioner claimed.
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