The first bench of Madras High Court comprising Acting Chief Justice T Raja and D Bharatha Chakravarthy on Wednesday reserved the orders on the appeal filed against a single judge’s order dismissing a petition on the possession of 110 grounds of prime land located adjacent to Semmozhi Poonga in Chennai.
Possession of Rs 1,000 crore government land: Madras HC reserves order
The land on Radhakrishnan Salai worth Rs 1,000 crore belongs to the government but was occupied by Agri Krishnamurthy in the name of Agri and Horticulture Society.
: The first bench of Madras High Court comprising Acting Chief Justice T Raja and D Bharatha Chakravarthy on Wednesday reserved the orders on the appeal filed against a single judge’s order dismissing a petition on the possession of 110 grounds of prime land located adjacent to Semmozhi Poonga in Chennai.
The land on Radhakrishnan Salai worth Rs 1,000 crore belongs to the government but was occupied by Agri Krishnamurthy in the name of Agri and Horticulture Society. The govt decided to develop a botanical garden in the said land, and hence, a notice was issued to the society to retrieve the land on September 29, 2010, when DMK was in power. The high court directed the district collector to go for fresh hearing on the matter while disposing of a writ petition filed by the society.
The collector (in-charge) on August 22, 2011, passed an order declaring that Agri Horticultural Society is the owner of the said land and directed issuance of patta. Subsequently, the tahsildar granted patta.
In the mean time, the commissioner of land administration initiated suo motu revision to stay the order of the collector on November 1, 2011, and issued a show cause notice to the society.
A writ petition filed by the society was dismissed by a single judge, against which, the Agri Horticulture Society filed the appeal. Senior counsel P Wilson, appearing for advocate Bhuvanesh Kumar who was impleaded following a Supreme Court order, submitted that the collector, without any materials, declared the title in favour of the society and he lacked jurisdiction.
