CHENNAI: The first bench of the Madras High Court has given two-week interim relief to 35 resorts in the Nilgiris facing demolition for being located inside the notified Sigur elephant corridor.
On August 16, executive officers of Sholur and Masinagudi town panchayats had issued demolition notices to resort owners, directing them to raze the buildings within 15 days, failing which the government will demolish them and recover the costs from them. The demolition notices were issued based on the order from the Supreme Court-appointed three-member Sigur Plateau Elephant Inquiry Committee.
In response, a few resort owners filed a writ petition challenging the order and demolition notices, claiming the inquiry committee went beyond its scope, from conducting inquiry into allegations of arbitrary variance in the acreage of the elephant corridor to declaring the property title of the resort owners as void under the Tamil Nadu Preservation of Private Forest Act (TNPPF), 1949.
When the matter came up for hearing, the high court sought clarification from the Tamil Nadu government as to whether it could act upon the inquiry committee’s report or should the report be placed before the SC or should the government pass appropriate orders adopting the report.
‘Nilgiris collector was told to go ahead with demolition as ordered by inquiry panel’
The high court also wondered whether it can admit the writ challenging the findings of an inquiry committee appointed by the Supreme Court.
Subsequently, the court adjourned the matter and asked the Additional Advocate General J Ravindran, representing the state, not to take any action for two weeks until clarification was provided.
Senior Advocate Salman Kurshid, appearing for the resort owners, had sought interim protection.
Additional Advocate General Ravindran told TNIE that the inquiry committee was empowered by the Supreme Court to pass final orders.
“The chief secretary had convened a meeting, attended by all the officials concerned, and decided to proceed with the implementation of the inquiry committee’s order,” he said.
Sources from the forest department told TNIE that after the chief secretary’s meeting, a department order was issued to the Nilgiris collector to execute the demolition as ordered by the inquiry committee.
Furthermore, the resort owners vehemently argued before the court that the inquiry committee wrongfully declared their property titles void under the Tamil Nadu Preservation of Private Forests Act (TN PPF) Act, 1949, although there is a writ pending before the high court challenging the TN PPF Notification, 1991, that declared the huge tract of 1.92 lakh acres of land in Udhagamandalam, Sholur and Gudalur taluks as private forests, thereby requiring prior permission from a district-level committee for sale or development.
However, the high court had maintained status quo in the matter in 2018.