CHENNAI: A sweeping order recently passed by the government to enable regularisation of almost all illegal housing plots and layouts in the State has been kept in suspension by the Madras high court. The first bench consisting of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and M Sundar on Friday said the State government’s exemption to all unapproved layouts as well as unapproved plots sold and registered on or before October 20, 2016 under the Tamil Nadu Regularisation of Unapproved Layouts and Rules 2017 is in excess of the rule making powers conferred under Section 122 of the Act and shall not be given effect to.
The State government had notified the Tamil Nadu Regularisation of Unapproved Layouts and Rules 2017 on May 4 to enable regularisation of all illegal housing plots on agricul ture and other lands. The high court had in September last banned the sale of illegal housing plots in the State putting the brake on conversion of agricultural lands for real estate purposes. To circumvent the court order, the State government recently passed an order giving exemption to the plots created before Oct 20, 2016.
However, on Friday when the case came up for hearing, the high court observed that the recent government order goes beyond the rule-making power granted by the Registration Act.
The TN Regularisation of Unapproved Layouts and Plots Rules and the TN Change of Land Use Rules shall be read with the provisions of the Country Planning Act in its application to the categories of house sites specified in the proviso to sub section (2) of section 22-A of the Registration Act, incorporated by TN Act of 2009, the judges said. The section 22A of the Registration act bars registration of sales of unapproved housing plot.
The judges made it clear that this interim order is subject to the result of the writ petitions and shall remain in force until further orders. All registrations pursuant to this interim order shall abide by the result of the writ petitions, the bench added and listed the matter for further hearing on June 14.