D.Santhakumar v. The Principal Secretary To Government
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED 05.03.2021
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE M.SATHYANARAYANAN AND THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE A.A.NAKKIRAN WP.No.5238/2021 & WMP.No.5799/2021 D.Santhakumar .. Petitioner
Versus
1.The Principal Secretary to Government Housing & Urban Development Department Secretariat, Chennai-9.
2.The Greater Chennai Corporation, rep.by its Commissioner Rippon Building, Chennai-3.
3.The Assistant Engineer, The Greater Chennai Corporation, AE/DN-95, 2nd Cross Street [East] Pulla Avenue, Shenoy Nagar, Chennai 600 030.
4.The Assistant Executive Engineer, The Greater Chennai Corporation Unit 21, 2nd Cross Street [East] Pulla Avenue, Shenoy Nagar, Chennai 600 030.
5.The Executive Engineer, The Greater Chennai Corporation Zone-08, 2nd Cross Street [East] Pulla Avenue, Shenoy Nagar, Chennai 600 030.
.. Respondents Prayer:- Writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the 1st respondent to dispose of the appeal dated 15.02.2021 preferred by the petitioner under section 80 [A] of the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act, 1971 within the stipulated period.
For Petitioner :
Mr.M.Venkatesh For R1 :
Mr.R.Vijayakumar Additional Government Pleader For RR2 to 5 :
Mr.K.Raja Shrinivas Standing counsel
ORDER
[Order of the Court was made by M.SATHYANARAYANAN, J.] (1)By consent, the writ petition is taken up for final disposal and is disposed of by this order.
(2)Mr.R.Vijayakumar, learned Additional Government Pleader accepts notice on behalf of the 1st respondent and Mr.K.Raja Srinivas, learned Standing counsel accepts notice on behalf of respondents 2 to 5.
(3)The petitioner claims to be the owner of the superstructure bearing Door No.01A 27, Kumaraswamy Nagar, Main Road, Villivakkam, Chennai 600 049 and the said superstructure came into being in the year 2003 and according to the petitioner, the entire family is residing there. (4)The learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that respondents 3 to 5, without following due process of law and in a hasty manner, issued the Locking and Sealing and Demolition Notice dated 29.11.2019 and it is followed by DeOccupation Notice dated 08.01.2020 and challenging the DeOccupation Notice dated 08.01.2020, the petitioner preferred a special revision/appeal u/s.80A of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1971. He would further submit that despite the entertainment of the statutory revision/appeal, attempts are being made to dispossess the petitioner by proceeding further with the impugned De-Occupation Notice and therefore, the petitioner is constrained to approach this Court by filing this writ petition.
(5)Per contra, Mr.K.Raja Srinivas, learned Standing counsel appearing for respondents 2 to 5 would submit that the petitioner had unauthorisedly converted the residential premises into a commercial one and let out the deviated portions to various tenants and at least two of them have approached this Court and sought time to vacate the premises and he would further add that since special revision/appeal is of very recent origin, priority may not be accorded. (6)Mr.R.Vijayakumar, learned Additional Government Pleader appearing for the 1st respondent would submit that he needs time to get instructions as to whether the special revision/appeal had been entertained or not?
(7)It is relevant to extract the details of the deviations pointed out in the De-Occupation dated 08.01.2020 issued by respondents 3 to 5:- S.N o Details As per approved plan As per site Differenc e Unauthori sed / deviation I Set Back
S.N o Details As per approved plan As per site Differenc e Unauthori sed / deviation Front 1.52m Nil 1.52m Deviation Rear 1.52m Nil 1.52m Deviation Side 1 [left] 0.61m Nil 0.61m Deviation Side 2 [Right] 2.64m Nil 2.64m Deviation II Floor Area Ground Floor 65.89 sqm 128.38 sqm 62.49 sqm Deviation First Floor 60.57 sqm 141.94 sqm 81.37 sqm Deviation Second Floor Nil 141.94 sqm 141.
94 sqm Deviation III Usage of the Building-Floor Wise Ground Floor Residenti al Residenti al / Commercia l - - First Floor Residenti al Residenti al / Commercia l - - Second Floor Nil Residenti al - Unauthori sed (8)Though the relief sought for by the petitioner is very limited in this writ petition, as he prays for early disposal of the special revision/appeal, this Court is of the considered view that a positive order cannot be passed for the reason that the special revision itself came to be filed only on 15.02.2021 and there are very many earlier revisions/appeals which are pending and as such, this Court is not inclined to issue any positive order for early disposal of the same.
However, if the petitioner is so advised, he is at liberty to invoke the provisions of the Right to Information Act, to know about the fate/stage of the special revision/appeal preferred against the Impugned De-Occupation Notice dated 08.01.2020.
(9)The writ petition stands disposed of accordingly. No costs. Consequently, the connected miscellaneous petition is closed.
Sd/- Assistant Registrar (CS-VII) //True Copy// Sub Assistant Registrar AP To 1.The Principal Secretary to Government Housing & Urban Development Department Secretariat, Chennai-9.
2.The Commissioner, The Greater Chennai Corporation, Rippon Building, Chennai-3.
3.The Assistant Engineer, The Greater Chennai Corporation, AE/DN-95, 2nd Cross Street [East] Pulla Avenue, Shenoy Nagar, Chennai 600 030.
4.The Assistant Executive Engineer, The Greater Chennai Corporation Unit 21, 2nd Cross Street [East] Pulla Avenue, Shenoy Nagar, Chennai 600 030.
5.The Executive Engineer, The Greater Chennai Corporation Zone-08, 2nd Cross Street [East] Pulla Avenue, Shenoy Nagar, Chennai 600 030.
+1cc to Mr.M.Venkatesh, Advocate, S.R.No. 14157 +1cc to the Government Pleader, S.R.No. 14878 WP.No.5238/2021 PMK(CO) GN(26/03/2021)