CHENNAI: The Madras HC on Monday refused to grant interim stay on the orders of Nilgiris district administration to demolish the illegal resorts in the elephant corridor.
Citing the decision for demolition of the illegal resorts was made by the SC-appointed three-member committee and pending the case filed by the owners of the resorts before the apex court, a special bench of Justices N Sathish Kumar and D Bharatha Chakravarthy turned down the request made by senior counsel Salman Kurshid in this regard.
It adjourned the batch of petitions filed by the resorts, which face imminent action for violation of the rules for raising the buildings under the pretext of residential structures and running them as resorts occupying vast space on the Sigur Plateau Elephant Corridor, to October 28 for further hearing.
However, the bench assured the counsel that nothing would happen until then.
The administration had issued notice for demolition of the structures to 35 property owners in August and warned that if they failed to do so, it would demolish the structures and recover the costs.
Meanwhile, the bench expressed dissatisfaction over the laxity in implementing the e-pass system for gaining entry into the hill stations of Kodaikanal and The Nilgiris.
The bench said the vehicles are given a free run as the authorities of the government are not keen on enforcing the e-pass entry system.