S.Venugopal v. The Secretary,
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED : 09.06.2025
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE M.SUNDAR and THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE P.DHANABAL S.Venugopal ... Petitioner Vs.
1. The Secretary Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department Government of Tamil Nadu Fort St.George, Kamarajar Salai Chennai - 600 009
2. The Additional Chief Secretary and Commissioner of Land Administration Chepauk, Chennai - 600 005
3. The Commissioner The Greater Chennai Corporation Ripon Buildings, Chennai - 600 003
4. The District Collector Chennai District Singaravelar Maaligai Chennai - 600 001 Page Nos.1/9
5. The Regional Deputy Commissioner Central Region, The Greater Chennai Corporation No.13B/39B, Pulla Avenue Shenoy Nagar Chennai - 600 030
6. The Tahsildar Ayanavaram Taluk Chennai - 600 102
7. The Revenue Divisional Officer Tondiarpet Revenue Division No.473, Thiruvottiyur High Road Tondiarpet, Chennai - 600 081
8. The District Revenue Officer The Chennai District No.62, Rajaji Salai, Chennai - 600 001
9. The Zonal Officer Zone-6, The Greater Chennai Corporation Anderson Raod, Ayanavaram Chennai - 600 023
10. The Zonal Officer Zone 8, The Greater Chennai Corporation Pulla Avenue, Shenoy Nagar Chennai - 600 030 ... Respondents Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of The Constitution of India praying to issue a Writ of Mandamus directing the respondents to consider my representation dated 04.05.2017 to take appropriate steps to remove the encroachment in the North Red Hills Road and Kolathur Main Road within Page Nos.2/9
the reasonable time that may be fixed by this Court. For Petitioner :
Mr.S.Venugopal (Petitioner-in-person) For Respondents :
Mr.T.K.Saravanan Additional Government Pleader for R1, R2, R4, R6, R7 and R8 Mr.G.T.Subramanian Standing counsel for R3, R5 and R10
ORDER
[Order of the Court was made by M.SUNDAR, J.,] This order will now dispose of the captioned 'Writ Petition' ['WP' for the sake of brevity].
2.
Mr.M.Vijayaragavan, learned counsel on record for writ petitioner, Mr.T.K.Saravanan, learned Additional Government Pleader for R1, R2, R4, R6, R7 and R8 and Mr.G.T.Subramanian, learned Standing counsel for R3, R5, R9 and R10 are before us. 3.
Adverting to representation dated 04.05.2017 from the writ petitioner, learned counsel for writ petitioner submitted that there is Page Nos.3/9
encroachment in 'North Red Hills Road and Kolathur Main Road' [hereinafter 'said Roads' for the sake of convenience and clarity]. 4.
Considering the facts and circumstances of the case in juxtaposition with G.O.(Ms)No.64, Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Land Disposal Wing, dated 08.02.2022 {hereinafter 'said GO' for the sake of convenience} which puts in place a removal of encroachment procedure inter-alia giving opportunity to encroacher/s, we are of the view that the captioned WP can be disposed of by putting in a safety valve / adequate protection qua encroacher/s.
5.
It was submitted by learned State counsel that said GO has been put in place, wherein and whereby Divisional Monitoring Committee, District Monitoring Committee and State Steering Committee have been constituted inter alia for a single point reporting / monitoring system qua Government lands.
6.
In the light of the narrative thus far, we deem it appropriate to refer the matter to the Divisional Monitoring Committee headed by R7 Page Nos.4/9
(Revenue Divisional Officer, Tondiarpet Revenue Division, No.473, Thiruvottiyur High Road, Tondiarpet, Chennai) qua said GO. 7.
This Court directs the jurisdictional Divisional Monitoring Committee to examine if there is encroachment qua said land. 8.
The Divisional Monitoring Committee qua said GO shall (if it comes to the conclusion that there is encroachment) report the encroachment to appropriate authorities concerned for further action (for removal of encroachment). To be noted, all the rights and contentions of encroachers are preserved for being raised before the Committee concerned which shall consider the same on their own merits and in accordance with law untrammelled by this proceedings in this Court. The entire exercise shall be completed within a period of 14 weeks from today i.e., by 15.09.2025.
9.
It is open to the writ petitioner and / or anyone concerned with this matter to come to this Court on the same issue even with a similar / same prayer if there is any change of circumstances. Page Nos.5/9
10.
We make it clear that we have not expressed any view or opinion as to whether there is encroachment or not qua said land as it turns on facts and it is for the Divisional Monitoring Committee to take a call on this aspect of the matter. We also make it clear that this exercise will not apply to patta land and it will apply only to public land, if there is any encroachment in public land.
11.
Captioned WP is disposed of with the aforementioned observations and directives in the aforesaid manner. There shall be no order as to costs.
(M.S.,J.) (P.D.B.,J.) 09.06.2025 Index : Yes / No gpa Page Nos.6/9
To
1. The Secretary Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department Government of Tamil Nadu Fort St.George, Kamarajar Salai Chennai - 600 009
2. The Additional Chief Secretary and Commissioner of Land Administration Chepauk, Chennai - 600 005
3. The Commissioner The Greater Chennai Corporation Ripon Buildings, Chennai - 600 003
4. The District Collector Chennai District Singaravelar Maaligai Chennai - 600 001
5. The Regional Deputy Commissioner Central Region, The Greater Chennai Corporation No.13B/39B, Pulla Avenue Shenoy Nagar Chennai - 600 030
6. The Tahsildar Ayanavaram Taluk Chennai - 600 102
7. The Revenue Divisional Officer Tondiarpet Revenue Division No.473, Thiruvottiyur High Road Tondiarpet, Chennai - 600 081 Page Nos.7/9
8. The District Revenue Officer The Chennai District No.62, Rajaji Salai, Chennai - 600 001
9. The Zonal Officer Zone-6, The Greater Chennai Corporation Anderson Raod, Ayanavaram Chennai - 600 023
10. The Zonal Officer Zone 8, The Greater Chennai Corporation Pulla Avenue, Shenoy Nagar Chennai - 600 030 Page Nos.8/9
M.SUNDAR, J., and P.DHANABAL, J., gpa 09.06.2025 Page Nos.9/9