TIRUNELVELI: Tirunelveli city police registered a case against a doctor and his aides for allegedly threatening a corporation contractor with weapons while he was carrying out the demolition of the doctor’s five-storey hospital building, as per orders of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, for violating norms, on Monday.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the city police identified the suspects as Shanmugavel, Chellappa, Dr J Vinoth Kumar Philip and ‘others’.
According to police, G Chinnadurai (50) of Sankar Colony in Palayamkottai, an employee of the corporation contractor Marshal Vignesh and Co, arrived to demolish the VJ Hospital building which has been constructed without permission.
However, the doctors and his aides allegedly trespassed into the premises armed with weapons, and demanded that Chinnadurai and his co-workers vacate the site, abused them using derogatory language and issued threats, forcing the demolition work to be halted. Later, based on Chinnadurai’s complaint, police registered a case against the suspects .
Social activist S Ferdin Rayan, who filed a public interest litigation in 2020 against VJ Hospital, said the case pertained to multiple and serious violations. According to him, Dr Vinoth Kumar Philip had originally obtained permission only for a three-storey commercial building. “However, he illegally constructed a five-storey structure and established VJ Multi Speciality Hospital in it. Around 1,500 sq ft of public road was also encroached to extend the construction,” he alleged. Rayan claimed that the building lacked adequate lighting and ventilation facilities and was constructed in a manner that obstructed the free movement of fire engines.
“There were no ramps for patients either. Considering the gravity of these violations, I approached the court in 2020 seeking demolition of the structure. After a prolonged legal battle, I received a favourable order last month,” he said.
Meanwhile, Philip obtained five days’ time from Tirunelveli Corporation Commissioner Dr Monika Rana to remove hospital equipment and belongings from the building. Following this, the demolition work was put on hold on Tuesday.