CHENNAI: Coming down heavily on land grabbing, Madras High Court said if allowed to continue then the offenders will take law in their own hands. Disposing of a petition related to encroachment of government land and renting out buildings for government establishments in Salem district, Justice SM Subramanian said, “Unfortunately, the competent authorities have miserably failed to initiate action immediately.”
The judge added, “Peace meetings cannot be conducted in respect of encroachments and illegal utilisation of government land by persons in an unjust manner and for personal gains.” The authorities have also committed serious lapses, negligence and dereliction of duty in the matter, he flayed, while disposing of the petition.
Government authorities, including Salem Collector and revenue officer, were directed to evict encroachers and take possession of government and highways land. After eviction, assessments are to be made on the use and damage of the property and financial loss caused to the state exchequer, and proceedings must be initiated for recovering the losses.
The officials were told to complete the eviction and recovery exercise within six months. The petition filed in 2016 was about encroachment by a group at Vellalagundam village, Vazhapadi Taluk in Salem district.