While appreciating the courage shown by a District Revenue Officer in refusing to issue patta in favour of a private construction company, the Madras High Court expressed surprise that the erstwhile AIADMK government had assigned 3.45 acres of public land for construction of a mall and hypermarket by a private company.
Through a government order in 2021, just before the announcement of Assembly elections, the AIADMK government had assigned 3.45 acre near Koyambedu central bus terminus in Chennai for construction of a shopping mall by Baashyaam Constructions Private Limited, holding power of attorney from Hotel Saravana Bhavan. However, after change of government in 2021 as the DMK came into power, the order was cancelled.
The bench of Justice SM Subramaniam said the case was a classic one, where a schematic way of land grabbing was carried out by highly influential people.
The court said by executing an unregistered deed of family arrangement, the land grabbers had attempted to convert the government land into a private one with an active collusion of the revenue authorities.
It further said it was not a single case, rather there are several incidents where corrupt practices are being adopted to assign government lands to some people who are wealthy, influential, and are political members of the society.
“The stratagem employed by the land grabbers is foolproof and can be witnessed specifically in lands belonging to the government across different political spectrums,” the single judge bench pointed out.
The court also said the method adopted in bringing about this systemic violation is done hand in hand by the bureaucracy and the politico.
“The convergence happens at this singular point. In spite of different parties being in power across different political landscapes, the convergence and tactics adopted in such systemic violations are all in a similar fashion and is all pervasive across different layers of governance,” it underscored.
It opined that this is not only a matter of grave concern but raises several serious questions.
“This structural corruption is the beginning of all forms of social evils. It shakes the foundation of a good governance,” it underlined.
Therefore, while stating that it is high time that the government contemplates the bringing about of a special legislation to penalise land grabbing, the court ordered the Tamil Nadu government to initiate appropriate criminal prosecutions and disciplinary actions against all people including the public servants responsible for grabbing high-value government properties in Chennai and across the state.
It also ordered appointment of a high-level committee to spot illegal activities such as land seizures, unpaid lease rents, and unauthorised use of public land, with the authority to take legal action, including prosecution.
The order was passed in a plea moved by Hotel Saravana Bhavan seeking directions to the state to grant them patta for 3.75 acres of government ‘natham puramboke’ land situated in Koyambed in Chennai.
The court noted that the land was initially classified as Grama Natham in revenue records, which meant it could only be used for residential purposes. However, in 1983, a Tahsildar reclassified it as Ryotwari land, and in 1994, Hotel Saravana Bhavan acquired it along with an adjoining private property measuring 5.80 acres.
The court held that facts established and the documents produced by the respective parties to the lis on hand showed that the petitioner was an encroacher of the government land who had grabbed the land for unjust gains in a systematic manner.
Therefore, while refusing to allow the prayers as stated in the petition, the court disposed of it with the above-mentioned directions.
Comments
0 comment