CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government is likely to seek the opinion of the advocate general on the extension of the new amnesty scheme, which lapsed last year, to regularise unauthorised buildings. The scheme, which was introduced in 2017 by amending the Town and Country Planning Act and bringing in Section 113-C to grant amnesty to buildings built before 2007, was a non-starter as it was challenged in courts.
Sources said the Directorate of Town and Country Planning has sought the amnesty scheme for unauthorised buildings which lapsed on September 20, 2022, to be extended so that the applications can be filed under the scheme. It is learnt that there is also a proposal to extend the scheme to include buildings built on or before 2019.
The state has already introduced an amnesty scheme to regularise unauthorised buildings built on or before 1999 by amending the Town and Country Planning Act. The constitutional validity was upheld by the Supreme Court on August 23, 2006. However, when the second scheme was introduced in 2017, it was challenged in the Madras High Court stating such an amnesty scheme was a one-time measure.
Under the new regularisation scheme, building owners would be allowed to rectify violations to avoid lock-and-seal action by the government. However, the residents ought to pay regularisation charges based on the size, guideline value and location of the buildings. Initially, there were few applications for the new scheme due to higher charges. Later the scheme hit a hurdle with the Madras High Court in 2019 striking down the government orders on the new regularisation scheme stating it as violative of the Supreme Court order, which had considered the grant of regularisation as a one-time measure.
However, sources claim that technically, the court has not quashed any of the government orders in its judgments as such the guidelines are still in force and the scheme could be technically extended from time to time. However, by relying on a judgement of the Supreme Court, the Madras High Court in its order on July 3, 2023, has observed that the insertion of section 113-C is violative of the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Consumer Action Group versus Tamil Nadu government
This has forced the government to go on the back foot as it feels that amending the rules and guidelines under the new scheme could invite contempt of court. Currently, the Supreme Court is seized of the matter and it is not appropriate to amend the rules without knowing the outcome of the case pending before the Supreme Court. As a result, the housing department has asked DTCP to seek the advocate’s opinion to amend rules and related guidelines.