S.Nasima Banu v. District Collector
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED : 16.07.2025
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE M.SUNDAR and THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE HEMANT CHANDANGOUDAR S.Nasima Banu ... Petitioner Vs.
1. The District Collector Tiruvarur District Tiruvarur
2. The Tahsildar Taluk Office Thiruthuraipoondi Tiruvarur District
3. Marimuthammal
4. Kamatchi
5. Gangabalan ... Respondents Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of The Constitution of India praying to issue a Writ of Mandamus directing respondents 1 to 2 herein to Page Nos.1/7
remove the encroachment made by Respondents 3 to 5 herein in the 15 feet road, namely Mettu Street in Survey Number 183, situated in Pamani Village within the Pamani Panchayat limit, Thiruthuraipoondi Taluk, Tiruvarur District so as to have a free ingress and egress and easy access by four wheeler vehicles and heavy vehicles.
For Petitioner :
Mr.S.Nagarajan For Respondents :
Mr.T.K.Saravanan Addl. Govt. Pleader for R1 and R2
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.S.Nagarajan, learned counsel on record for writ petitioner and Mr.T.K.Saravanan, learned Additional Government Pleader for R1 and R2 are before us.
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3. The 'Removal of Encroachment' ['RoE'] prayer in the captioned WP is qua S.No.183, Pamani Village, Thiruthuraipoondi Taluk, Tiruvarur District' [hereinafter 'said entire land' for the sake of convenience].
4. Learned State counsel, on instructions, submits that S.No.183 has since been sub-divided and numbers are assigned as S.Nos.183/1 to 183/9. It is further submitted by learned State counsel that 'S.Nos.183/1, 183/2 and 183/3 in Pamani Village, Thiruthuraipoondi Taluk, Tiruvarur District' [hereinafter 'said lands' for the sake of convenience] are Government lands, the same having been classified as 'Government Poramboke lands'. We make it clear that instant order is confined only to said lands.
5. 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 alleged encroachers, we are of the view that the captioned WP can be disposed of by putting in a safety Page Nos.3/7
valve / adequate protection qua alleged encroachers i.e., R3 to R5. 6.
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.
7.
In the light of the narrative thus far, we deem it appropriate to refer the matter to the Divisional Monitoring Committee headed by Revenue Divisional Officer, Mannargudi qua said GO. 8.
This Court directs the jurisdictional Divisional Monitoring Committee to examine if there is encroachment qua said land. 9.
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 Page Nos.4/7
removal of encroachment). To be noted, all the rights and contentions of alleged 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 22.10.2025.
10.
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. 11.
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.
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12.
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.) (H.C.J.) 16.07.2025 Index : Yes / No gpa To
1. The District Collector Tiruvarur District Tiruvarur
2. The Tahsildar Taluk Office Thiruthuraipoondi Tiruvarur District
3. The Revenue Division Officer Mannargudi Page Nos.6/7
M.SUNDAR, J., and HEMANT CHANDANGOUDAR, J., gpa 16.07.2025 Page Nos.7/7