MADURAI: The State government told the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday that around 30,000 unauthorised layouts have been registered in Tamil Nadu since 2016 and that action is being taken against the officials who were responsible for it.
Additional Advocate General (AAG) Veera Kathiravan informed a bench comprising Justices R Mahadevan and J Sathya Narayana Prasad, in response to a direction issued by the bench to the Inspector General of Registration to submit a report (with statistical data) on the registration of unapproved plots and layouts across the State, from the introduction of Section 22-A of the Registration Act on October 20, 2016, till now.
The direction was issued on September 26, when the bench was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by P Saravanan of Theni seeking action against a sub registrar for allegedly registering several unapproved layouts in Veerapandi village in the district. When the case was heard on Monday, the AAG sought further time to file a detailed report, following which the judges adjourned the case to October 17.
The litigant had alleged in his petition that a sub registrar from Theni sub-registrar office was aiding two persons to sell residential plots in Veerapandi village to the public without layout approval, in violation of Section 22 A of the Registration Act, 1908 and Rule 15 of Tamil Nadu Regularisation of Unapproved Plots and Layouts Rules 2017. After the bench heard the matter last month, the said sub registrar was placed under suspension.