CHENNAI: The first Bench of the Madras High Court has given a clean chit to GRT Hotels and Resorts Private Limited, which was accused of encroaching upon vast areas of public land in Mamallapuram.
Dismissing the PIL from V Kittu of local unit of the VCK, the Bench of Chief Justice SK Kaul and Justice R Mahadevan said that “in view of the conspectus of the facts and circumstances of the case, we do not find any force in the allegations of the petitioner and that too styled as PIL”.
The petitioner in his PIL alleged that GRT had encroached upon 9.99 acres in Mamallapuram, used by local villagers and constructed a resort in violation of the building rules and regulations by utilising bogus pattas to avail loans on the approximately 10 acres.
In response to the petitioner’s allegations, the government authorities produced necessary documents in the court, which showed that the land owned by India Tourism Development Corporation Limited in New Delhi had been conveyed to GRT Hotels. Satisfied, the Bench observed that GRT must be allowed to enjoy and utilise the property, unhindered by any obstructions.
Earlier, the HC Bench had called for the records from the Revenue authorities. After going through the documents and the affidavit of the government and that of the ITDC, the Bench ascertained that the ITDC had acquired the land together with buildings free from all encumbrances and it was the absolute owner of the said land with clear title over the properties prior to passing on the ownership of the property to GRT Hotels.
The Thirukazhukundram Tahsildar, after perusing documents of GRT Hotels, had issued patta and directed the subordinate revenue authority, i.e. the VAO to make necessary entries/changes in the revenue records in a letter dated January 23, 2013. The VAO, however was lax and did not effect the changes, the HC Bench noted. The VAO was pulled up by the Bench for the inaction and directed him to make the corrections immediately.