Jalam Singh, v. The Corporation Of Chennai,
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 06.04.2016
CORAM:
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SATISH K. AGNIHOTRI and THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M. VENUGOPAL W.P. No.12903 of 2016 and W.M.P. No.11279 of 2016 Jalam Singh Petitioner Vs.
The Corporation of Chennai represented by its Commissioner Ripon Building Chennai - 600 003 The Executive Engineer Town Planning (Enforcement) O/o Regional Deputy Commissioner (Central) Corporation of Chennai Pulla Avenue, Shenoy Nagar Chennai 600 030 The Government of Tamil Nadu represented by its Secretary to Government Housing and Urban Development Department Fort St. George Chennai 600 009 Respondents Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of a writ of mandamus forbearing the respondents 1 and 2 or anybody on their behalf from initiating any coercive action of locking and sealing and demolition with regard to the building put up at No.82 (Old No.56), T.K. Mudali Street, Choolai, Chennai 600 112, pending determination of the revision petition submitted by the petitioner under Section 80-A and 80-A(3) of the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act, 1971, dated 15.02.2016.
For petitioner Ms. Jasmine Padma for Mr. L. Chandrakumar For RR 1 & 2 Mr. A. Nagarajan, Standing Counsel For R3 Ms. T.T. Girija, Government Advocate
ORDER
(delivered by SATISH K. AGNIHOTRI, J.) Mr. A. Nagarajan, learned Standing Counsel, accepts notice for respondents 1 and 2. Ms. T.T. Girija, learned Government Advocate, accepts notice for the third respondent. With the consent of the learned counsel for the parties, the writ petition is taken up for final disposal, at the admission stage itself.
This writ petition is filed seeking a writ of mandamus forbearing the respondents 1 and 2 or anybody on their behalf from initiating any coercive action of locking and sealing and demolition with regard to the building put up at No.82 (Old No.56), T.K. Mudali Street, Choolai, Chennai 600 112, pending determination of the revision petition (sic) application dated 15 February 2016 submitted by the petitioner under Section 80-A and 80-A(3) of the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act, 1971 (for brevity "the Act").
From a perusal of the records, it is seen that the Chennai Corporation has issued a locking, sealing and demolition notice on 07 January 2016 under Sections 56 and 57 read with Section 85 of the Act against the petitioner. Thereagainst, the petitioner has preferred an application before the third respondent under Section 80-A of the Act on 15 February 2016, which is under consideration. It is further seen that along with the said application, the petitioner has also filed an application for interim stay in terms of the provisions of Section 80-A(3) of the Act.
Without going into the merits of the case, we are of the considered view that if an application, as aforestated, is filed along with an application for interim relief, the officers are well advised to consider the application for interim relief at the earliest, preferably, within a period of two weeks, to avoid further complications.
Accordingly, we direct the third respondent to consider the petitioner's application for interim relief as early as possible, preferably within a period of two weeks and also to consider the petitioner's main application within the statutory period prescribed under the provisions of law, on its own merits and in accordance with law, in the light of the order dated 29th September 2015 passed by a Division Bench of this Court in Lalithkumar C. Soni Vs. Government of Tamil Nadu and others1. It is made clear that for a period of two weeks from today, i.e., 06 April 2016, status quo as obtained today, in respect of the 2015 (6) CTC 107 : (2015) 7 MLJ 394 : 2015 (2) CWC 752
property in question, shall be maintained by both the parties and the petitioner is restrained from making any further construction in the property in question.
With the above directions, the writ petition stands disposed of sans costs. Connected W.M.P. is closed.
cad -s/d- Assistant Registrar(AS) True Copy Sub-Assistant Registrar To The Commissioner Corporation of Chennai Ripon Building Chennai - 600 003 The Executive Engineer Town Planning (Enforcement) O/o Regional Deputy Commissioner (Central) Corporation of Chennai Pulla Avenue, Shenoy Nagar Chennai 600 030 The Secretary to Government Government of Tamil Nadu Housing and Urban Development Department Fort St. George Chennai 600 009 + 1 cc to Mr.L.Chandrakumar, Advocate, SR 21604 + 1 cc to Mr.A.Nagarajan, Advocate, SR 21649 + 1 cc to Govt.Pleader, High Court, Madras SR 22166 ks(co) prk26/4 W.P. No.12903 of 2016