CHENNAI: Over 5,000 cases, including service rules, recruitment, appointment and enforcement action pertaining to the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority are pending in various courts, according to official data. It is learnt that of the 5,020 cases, 20 are pending at Supreme Court, including a service rule case.
Recent controversial recruitment case, where 130 posts were filled within a day before the model code of conduct came into being, are also facing legal issues. Sources say, five such cases are pending before the Madras High Court pertaining to this issue and the CMDA has yet to file counter.
According to information available with Express, land acquisition cases pertaining to Outer Ring Road and allotment of shops in Koyambedu are pending at civil city court and High Court. ORR project which has been delayed for more than two decades and was opened just prior to elections is facing legal tangle in paying compensation to land owners as well as acquisition of land in Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts. What is worse is that many of the cases pertain to projects that have become dormant.
These include Maraimalai Nagar and Manali New Town besides the Sathangadu Iron and Steel Market. The legal delay has resulted in the State government seeking a report from CMDA in 2018 on how it was paying salaries to officials deputed on projects that have been lying dormant for years.
The biggest headache for CMDA is the legal tussle on implementing projects like Maraimalai Nagar New Town project conceived nearly 47 years ago. The land, which was acquired in 1974 to develop a satellite town to regulate population growth, is hardly put into use as most of them got encroached and in many cases the earlier land owners were successful in getting a favourable order to denotify it from acquisition. Even, the Manali New Town project is in limbo. Cases pertaining to Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus and Madhavaram Truck Terminal are also pending.
Another major issue plaguing is the pending cases over unauthorised buildings. With no transparency over cases pertaining to lock-and-seal building notices, people are unaware which ones are locked and which have cleared the case through litigation. Similarly, there is no government order in public domain pertaining to this issue.
Bending of service rules
It is learnt that the CMDA is functioning without service rules. It was in 1992 that the CMDA amended service rules. But failure to notify the rules has led to occasional bending of the same and a confusion, resulting in CMDA bleeding due to cases filed by staff
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At least 40 cases are pending before the Madras High Court, and 20 before Supreme Court, including a service rule case