The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Vijayakant told to hand over hall

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 24, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Vijayakant told to hand over hall

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has directed actor-politician A. Vijayakant and five others to hand over possession of the Shri Andal Alagar Marriage Hall premises to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) within four weeks.

Dismissing their writ appeals challenging the Centre's move to acquire the site and a single-judge order declining to interfere with the acquisition proceedings, the First Bench comprising Chief Justice A.P. Shah and Justice K. Chandru pointed out that the appellants had not objected when the NHAI issued a declaration under Section 3(A) of the NHAI Act.

Concurring with the submission of Assistant Solicitor-General P. Wilson that there were no mala fides in the impugned move, the Judges said the NHAI and other competent authorities had considered an alternative proposal submitted by the appellants. There was no mala fides on the part of the NHAI either in the notification or acquisition of the land.

On February 16, Justice V. Ramasubramanian had concluded: "It is clear that there is no, and there cannot be any, allegation of mala fides up to the stage of publication of the declaration and the vesting of the property with the Central Government."

When two other petitioners, who had booked the marriage halls for the first week of March, sought to implead themselves as party to the proceedings, the Bench said they could file separate petitions if they preferred so, as the cause of action was entirely different.

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