(Order of the Court was made by The Hon'ble Chief Justice) The petitioner has approached the Court alleging that the respondents / Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) is putting up construction on water body in S.No.442, Mogappair, Ambattur Taluk, Tiruvallur District.
2.In the counter-affidavit, it has been pointed out that the permission to enter the land was granted as far back as 04.09.1984, lay out was prepared and approved by the CMDA in 1999. Housing sites were sold to general public by lot and a common area was handed over to the Local Body for future maintenance. In this approved lay out plan, 36 cents at the southwest corner (boundary line) in S.No.442 was reserved for future construction by the Board and it is here that the Board has proposed to construct 20 HIG flats and got approval from the CMDA on 31.07.2015. The tender has been finalized, work order issued, site handed over and the construction work is at progress from February, 2016.
3.The respondents claim that the present petition is not really a public interest litigation but the one in a series of litigation to grab the land reserved for the TNHB. It is pointed out that suits and petitions have been filed seeking to raise the title disputes. The photographs of the construction produced before us also show that the skeletal structure is complete as of 04.02.2017. The present petition was filed in November, 2016.
4.Learned counsel for the respondents, thus, submits that these are in the nature of abuse of legal proceedings under the garb of public interest litigation and has drawn our attention to the order dated 04.04.2016 in W.P.No.5566 of 2015 where it was noticed that such proxy litigation should not be encouraged, as also the pleas of this nature where there has been regulated planning and allocation of land years back.
5.We have heard the learned counsel for parties and are in agreement with the submissions of the learned Government Pleader for the respondents. It is difficult to believe that the petitioner society would be unaware of the developments on the land which has been a planned development. The fact that different title suit or a writ petition is filed qua this portion of land left out for future development itself shows that there is possibly more of private interest than any public interest. At this belated stage, the issue is sought to be raised and even if the current construction is taken into account, it should have been going on for about ten months.
6.We, thus, find that the present petition really has no public interest involved.
Writ petition is, accordingly, dismissed. No costs. Consequently, W.M.P.No.33482 of 2016 is also dismissed.
(S.K.K., CJ.) (M.S., J.) 06.02.2017 Index : Yes/No Website : Yes/No sra To
1.The Secretary to Govt. of Tamil Nadu, Revenue Department, Secretariat, Chennai-9.
2.The Chairman, Tamil Nadu Housing Board, Egmore, Chennai.
3.The Executive Engineer cum Administrative Officer, J.J.Nagar Division, TNHB Commercial Building, Tirumangalam, Chennai.
The Hon'ble Chief Justice and M.Sundar, J.
(sra) W.P.No.39093 of 2016 06.02.2017 http://www.judis.nic.in