Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

Madras High Court Bench snubs encroacher

MADURAI: The Madras High Court Bench here on Friday snubbed an encroacher of Government land for contending that the officials cannot evict him without issuing a written notice as per law.

Dismissing his writ petition, a Division Bench comprising Justice K. Raviraja Pandian and Justice P.P.S. Janarthana Raja said: “The petitioner cannot be a preacher alone; he must also be a follower of rule of law.”

The Judges pointed out that K.M. Jamal Mohideen of Mukkanamalaipatti panchayat of Kulathur taluk in Pudukottai district had admittedly encroached 22 cents of Government land as early as in 1954 and constructed a rice mill.

“When the petitioner speaks about due process of law to be followed by the respondents (Collector, District Revenue Officer, Tahsildar and panchayat president), that would equally apply to the petitioner also,” the Bench said.

Petitioner’s counsel had contended that his client could not be evicted overnight as the latter was in possession of the land for more than five decades.

“In a democratic country, any action should be taken only in accordance with law,” he said.

Writing the judgement for the Bench, Mr. Justice Raviraja Pandian said: “Of course, the argument of the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, in the first blush, appears to be attractive. But we are unable to countenance it.”

“The petitioner had not only encroached the property, but also put up a construction treating it as his own property and was enjoying it for several years, thereby depriving the Government from utilising the land for some useful purpose,” he added.

The Judges also stated that the petitioner had approached the court with a bald allegation that people were informed, by beating tom-tom, in general that all encroachments in the panchayat limits would be cleared.

However, they observed that the officials concerned should take into consideration that on July 26, 1981, the then Joint Secretary to Government had passed a stay order against evicting the petitioner.

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