MADURAI: Taking note of the non-registration of FIR by Tiruchy District Crime Branch against a man who was said to have indulged in large scale illegal mining in some patta lands in the district, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court observed that if law is incapable of handling powerful persons, it will remain to be a damp squib.
"Law must be potent enough to operate against the people in power and persons having higher connections and it cannot remain subservient. Law is not meant to be used only against ordinary citizens and it nourishes more power and strength only when it is effectively applied against such people in power and persons with higher contact, whenever they commit a crime or violate any rule or regulation. If law is incapable of handling such powerful persons, it will remain to be a damp squib," Justice N Anand Venkatesh said.
He said he is forced to make the above observations with a fond hope that the Tiruchy collector will immediately initiate action for the illegal quarrying done by K Raja. He directed the Tiruchy District Crime Branch Unit-II to immediately register an FIR and proceed further with the investigation. The progress of the investigation should be informed to the Court at the next hearing on December 11, he added.
The directions were issued on a petition filed by Mangalam alleging that Raja did illegal quarrying in his lands. A report filed by the collector in the plea revealed that a quantum of 89,992 cbm of gravel was illegally quarried by Raja from non-leasehold areas resulting in a pit of nearly 10 to 15 feet. The report also showed that there was so much water logging in the lands where the illegal quarrying was done and no survey was able to be conducted by the officials for more than a year.
The judge also noted that Raja has also indulged in forgery of some of the land documents and the same has been confirmed through an inquiry conducted by the DCB. However, no FIR has been registered by DCB in this regard so far, the judge pointed out and directed the DCB to register an FIR and inquire into both the forgery of documents and the illegal quarrying.
The judge further observed that all these illegal activities could not have been done by Raja without the patronage of the officials. "Neither have the officials taken any action till date, nor has the police registered FIR and conducted investigation in accordance with law and that shows the clout of Raja," the judge said and made the above observations.