CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has severely criticised the Tamil Nadu government for allotting land classified as sand dunes as an alternative site for a private school in lieu of the land taken over from the institution.
“When this land of the petitioner is taken back for the temple purposes and instead, sand dunes are given as alternate land, it is apt to quote Hubert Reeves who said – Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and destroys a visible Nature. Unaware that this Nature he is destroying is the God he’s worshiping,” Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy said.
These observations and comments were made in a recent order on a petition filed by St Joseph Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Koothapakkam in Cuddalore district.
Pointing out that the land allotted is sand dunes, he said, “Sand dunes are natural buffers that protect the land from storms and other events. They act as sand reservoirs. They are habitats for certain flora and fauna. They are an eco-sensitive system of utmost importance.”
The judge directed the state government to consider the proposal of an alternative site at Thiruvanthipuram village for allotting land to the school.
The petitioner had purchased 5.77 acres of land in Koothapakkam from the School Education department in 1979 and has been running the school. However, objections were raised by certain persons regarding 3.40 acres stating that it had been used for the purposes of the Devanatha Swamy temple as the land actually belonged to the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department and it was taken over by the government before selling it to the school.
The issue led to several litigations and the high court had ordered the state government to provide alternative land for the school.
According to the school management, the land was valued at Rs 8.14 crore as per the guideline values but the market value stood at Rs 40 crore. It has been pressing for a suitable land for shifting the institution within the limits of Cuddalore town.
However, the Revenue department allotted 4.50 acres of government poramboke-sand dune at Periapet village in Bhuvanagiri taluk by a G.O. dated July 1, 2025, nearly 34 km away from the current site, valued at about Rs 2 crore.
Opposing this allotment, the school management filed the current petition. The judge stated that the G.O. is illegal and unconscionable on the face of it.
ED moves HC to get DA case on minister shifted to spl court
The Madras HC has sought the response of the DVAC and Minister Anitha Radhakrishanan to a petition filed by the ED seeking to transfer a DA case registered against the minister to the Special Court for PMLA Cases in Madurai from the principal sessions and district court which is the Special Court for Prevention of Corruption Act Cases in Thoothukudi.
The first bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan directed the respondents, who included the minister’s wife, three sons and two others, to file response to the petition within four weeks and adjourned the case accordingly.
The DVAC registered the case in 2019 accusing the minister of amassing `2.07-crore worth assets disproportionate to known sources of income during 2001-06 when Radhakrishnan was holding the portfolio of Housing and Urban Development. In the meantime, the ED registered a case against the minister and the other persons under the provisions of PMLA.