K.Thangavel v. The Divisional Engineer(H)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED : 01.08.2025
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE M.SUNDAR and THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE T. VINOD KUMAR W.P.No.27704 of 2024 and W.M.P. No.30222 of 2024 K. Thangavel Petitioner vs.
1.
The Divisional Engineer (H) Tamil Nadu Highways Department Highways - Construction & Maintenance Office of the Divisional Engineer Pollachi Coimbatore District 2.
The Assistant Divisional Engineer (H) Highways - Construction & Maintenance Pollachi Coimbatore District 3.
The Tahsildar Pollachi Coimbatore District 4.
The Secretary to Government Revenue and Disaster Management Secretariat Fort St. George Chennai 600 009 5.
The Commissioner of Land Administration Chepauk Chennai 600 005 Respondents (RR 4 & 5 suo motu impleaded today vide instant order) Page No.1/10
Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying to issue a writ of certiorarified mandamus to call for the records relating to notice-2/2024/Ka/dated 22.08.2024 issued by the second respondent and to quash the same and consequently, direct the second respondent to permit the petitioner to access the pipeline laid down to draw water to the land of the petitioner on payment of track rent charges.
For petitioner Mr. C. Prabakaran For respondents Mr. T.K. Saravanan Additional Government Pleader
ORDER
[made by M.SUNDAR, J.] When the captioned 'writ petition' [hereinafter 'WP' for the sake of brevity] was listed before other Hon'ble Division Benches on 18.09.2024 and 25.09.2024, the following proceedings/orders were made:
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2.
Instant order shall now be read in conjunction with and in continuation of earlier proceedings/orders made by the other Hon'ble Division Benches.
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3.
In the light of the earlier proceedings, captioned WP is now in two parts. One part pertains to impugned notice which has been served on the writ petitioner i.e., notice dated 22.08.2024 bearing reference Notice-2/2024/Ka. The second part pertains to Commissioner of Land Administration (CLA) and Secretary, Revenue and Disaster Department, Government of Tamil Nadu jointly chalking out a methodology and creating a single window system as regards requests of agriculturists who seek No Objection Certificates regarding pipelines for irrigation.
4.
As regards the first part, learned State counsel submits that R1 has since made an order dated 25.09.2024 [hereinafter 'said order' for the sake of convenience and clarity] within the meaning of proviso to Section 28(2)(ii) of the Tamil Nadu Highways (Amendment) Act, 2024 (Act 11 of 2024) [hereinafter 'said Act' for the sake of convenience and clarity]. While learned State counsel asserted that said order has been served on the writ petitioner, learned counsel for writ petitioner was unable to either dispute or agree with the State counsel for want of instructions. To put an end to this situation, a copy Page No.6/10
of said order was served on the learned counsel for writ petitioner today and 01.08.2025 shall now be the reckoning date if writ petitioner chooses to assail the said order or seek judicial review qua said order. 5.
This takes this order to the second part about which there is allusion supra. As regards the second part, learned State counsel, adverting to said order, submits that the matter is under active consideration of State and the exercise of framing guidelines for granting track rent permissions to agriculturists is underway. Learned State counsel further submits that this exercise will be concluded by State as expeditiously as the business of official respondents permits but in any event within 14 weeks from today i.e., on or before 14.11.2025.
6.
For the purpose of effective Action Taken Report (ATR) which we are to requisition infra in P.S., we suo motu implead the following officials as RR 4 and 5 respectively: i.
The Secretary to Government Revenue and Disaster Management Secretariat Fort St. George Chennai 600 009 Page No.7/10
ii.
The Commissioner of Land Administration Chepauk Chennai 600 005 7.
The narrative thus far makes it clear that the captioned WP now stands addressed and a closure can be given to the captioned WP. 8.
We dispose of the captioned WP as closed. Consequently, captioned writ miscellaneous petition stands disposed of as closed. There shall be no order as to costs.
(M.S., J.) (T.V.K., J.) 01.08.2025 cad P.S.:
(1)For Action Taken Report, list on 17.11.2025; and (2)Registry to carry out necessary and consequential amendments before uploading and before issuing the certified copies.
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To 1.
The Divisional Engineer (H) Tamil Nadu Highways Department Highways - Construction & Maintenance Office of the Divisional Engineer Pollachi Coimbatore District 2.
The Assistant Divisional Engineer (H) Highways - Construction & Maintenance Pollachi Coimbatore District 3.
The Tahsildar Pollachi Coimbatore District 4.
The Secretary to Government Revenue and Disaster Management Secretariat Fort St. George Chennai 600 009 5.
The Commissioner of Land Administration Chepauk Chennai 600 005 Page No.9/10
M.SUNDAR, J.
and T.VINOD KUMAR, J.
cad 01.08.2025 Page No.10/10