CHENNAI: The first bench of Madras High Court comprising Chief Justice KR Shriram and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy has imposed costs of Rs 20 lakh on a public interest litigation petitioner, TH Rajmohan, of Thirumullaivoyal in Chennai, for suppressing the facts about assignment of land measuring 40.95 acres.
The court found him filing the case falsely claiming the land falls under reserve forests but was assigned to private persons through a G.O. issued in 2007. He suppressed the fact that the land was denotified in 1962.
“Either the petitioner lied in the court or he has been set up as a front by somebody,” the bench said while dismissing the petition and imposing costs of Rs 20 lakh, and barred him from filing PIL petitions without obtaining permission for one year. The bench ordered him to pay Rs 10 lakh to the twelfth respondent (a private developer) and the remaining amount to the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority (SLSA) within four weeks.