Palaniammal v. The Secretary To The Government Of Tamil Nadu
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 24.01.2025
CORAM:
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE R.SUBRAMANIAN AND THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE C.KUMARAPPAN W.A.No. 45 of 2025 1.Tmt.Palaniammal 2.Tmt.Thabitha 3.Thiru.Duraisamy 4.Tmt.Kalyani 5.Thiru.Vijayakumar 6.Thiru.Srinivasan 7.Tmt.Angammal 8.Thiru.Periyasamy 9.Thiru.Nagarajan 10.Thiru.Krishnamoorthy 11.Tmt.Anjugam 12.Tmt.Kowsalya 13.Tme.Suganya 14.Tmt.Jayasree Nair 1/8
15.Tmt.Saarika Menon 16.Tmt.Kaveri 17.Thiru.Malaiyappan 18.Tmt.Deepika 19.Thiru.Selvaraj 20.Thiru.Selvaraj 21.Thiru.Krishnankutty 22.Tmt.R.Sumathy 23.Thiru.R.Chandrakumar 24.Tmt.R.Sivaranjani 25.Tmt.Jothi 26.Tmt.Pechiammal 27.Thiru.Visuvasam 28.Tmt.Jackulin Arul Jancy Rani 29.Tmt.Estherrani 30.Thiru.Nachimuthu 31.Thiru.Kanagaraj 32.Thiru.S.Muthiya 33.Tmt.M.Chandrakala 2/8
34.Thiru.Dhanaraj 35.Thiru.Gurusamy 36.Thiru.Ruban Gnanaraj 37.Tmt.Hema Anandhi 38.Gunasekari 39.Kamala Saraswathi 40.K.Rajanbabu 41.K.Rajamani ... Petitioners / Appellants Vs.
1.The Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu Transport Department Secretariat Fort St. George Chennai ? 600 009.
2.The District Collector Coimbatore District Coimbatore.
3.The District Revenue Officer (L.A) Airport Runway Extension Coimbatore.
4.The Special Tahsildar (L.A) Unit~III Airport Runway Extension Coimbatore.
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5.The Director Airport Authority of India Coimbatore.
... Respondents / Respondents Prayer: Writ Appeal filed under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent, against the order dated 12.06.2023 made in W.P.No.4394 of 2023. For Appellants : Mr.R.Soniaglory For Respondents : Mr.P.Balathandayutham Special Government Pleader for R1 Mr.Vadivelu Deenadayalan Addl. Government Pleader for R2 to R4
J U D G M E N T
(Judgment of the Court was made by R.SUBRAMANIAN, J.) The appellants are aggrieved by the order of the Writ Court made in W.P.No.4394 of 2023 dated 12.06.2023.
2. The prayer in the Writ Petition was for payment of interest on the compensation that was paid by the Government pursuant to an agreement reached between the parties under Section 7(5) of the Tamil Nadu Acquisition of Land for Industrial Purposes Act, 1997. 4/8
3. The learned counsel for the appellants would heavily rely upon the judgment of the Division Bench made in W.P.No. 2116 of 2017 etc., batch dated 18.08.2020 wherein, there is a specific direction for payment of interest, since there was a delay on the part of the Government in disbursing the compensation agreed to.
4. It is brought to our notice that the order of the Division Bench dated 18.08.2020 is under challenge before the Hon'ble Supreme Court in S.L.P.(Civil)Nos. 12770 to 12783 of 2020 and the Hon'ble Supreme Court has passed the following interim order therein:- "In the meantime, payment of compensation as per the settlement shall be made. However, the direction of the High Court to pay interest shall remain stayed."
5. The learned counsel for the appellants would submit that the said proceedings are pending before the Hon'ble Supreme Court.
6. In view of the fact that the question of payment of interest is pending before the Hon'ble Supreme Court for adjudication and there is also 5/8
a stay order, we do not think, the appellants were right in moving this Court seeking payment of interest. The appellants shall await the outcome of the decisions in the above SLPs, regarding their claim for interest. It is made clear that the liability of the Government to pay interest will depend on the outcome of the SLP referred to supra de hors any observation made by the Writ Court in the order under appeal dated 12.06.2023.
7. This Writ Appeal is therefore, dismissed with the above observations. No costs. It will be open to the appellants to seek any relief regarding payment of interest, if they are successful before the Hon'ble Supreme Court.
(R.S.M., J.) (C.K., J.) 24.01.2025 kkn Index: No Speaking 6/8
To:- 1.The Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu Transport Department Secretariat Fort St. George Chennai ? 600 009.
2.The District Collector Coimbatore District Coimbatore.
3.The District Revenue Officer (L.A) Airport Runway Extension Coimbatore.
4.The Special Tahsildar (L.A) Unit~III Airport Runway Extension Coimbatore.
5.The Director Airport Authority of India Coimbatore.
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R.SUBRAMANIAN, J.
and C.KUMARAPPAN, J.
KKN W.A.No. 45 of 2025 24.01.2025 8/8