CHENNAI: The Madras High Court recently granted a reprieve to the top officials of Chengalpattu, including the district collector, in a plea pertaining to illegal acquisition of land belonging to an individual for laying a canal after it had previously remarked that it was a “clear case of land grabbing”.
The matter pertains to laying a canal through a land parcel measuring 1318 sq m at Selaiyur in Tambaram, owned by the petitioner, M R Vasanthan. The landowner approached the court last year and directions were issued for paying compensation. Despite fixing the compensation at Rs 2.9 crore, the authorities didn’t pay him.
A division bench of Justices G Jayachandran and E Manoharan noted that the order on compensation dated February 1, 2025, was not complied with by the respondent authorities even after over a year and a half having passed.
The bench on Wednesday said, “We hence hold the action of the respondents, starting from the collector, RDO, tahsildar, AEE of the water resources department to the BDO grabbing the petitioner’s land without following due process of law.”Stating that it is a “clear case of land grabbing” under the guise of public purpose, the bench permitted the petitioner to lodge a private complaint with the district SP against the respondent authorities.
On Thursday, the respondent authorities, including the collector, appeared before the bench. Additional Advocate General P V Balasubramaniam submitted that the land will be restored and handed back in its original form within 15 days.
Subsequently, the court directed the SP to keep in abeyance the petitioner’s complaint and granted time till September 28 for the collector to file a compliance report.