Don’t put cart before horse, Madras High Court tells state government

Chennai: Castigating the authorities for undertaking construction of tenements for rehabilitating displaced slum-dwellers in Coimbatore district without prior approval but subsequently obtaining sanctions, the Madras high court asked them to ensure that it was not done in the future. “The government cannot be the violator. Competent authorities have undertaken the project without first obtaining the requisite permissions as would be expected of any private citizen,” said a division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice T.S. Sivagnanam.

Closing a public interest litigation from activist Vishwanath Swami, which sought a direction to the authorities to demolish unauthorised structures put up in two villages in Coimbatore, the bench also made it clear that these tenements will not be permitted to be occupied until all requisite formalities are completed and any sanction which remains to be obtained are obtained.

The bench said the counter affidavit filed by the TN slum clearance board gives credence to the allegations of the petitioner that the constructions were made without requisite sanctions. However, the authorities, having woken up to the matter after the petition was filed, sought to cure the defects by obtaining the requisite permissions. The construction made by the board was for 960 tenements in Madukkarai village and 224 tenements in Sundakkamuthur village in Coimbatore. Though the construction was started, permission for change of land use, NOC from the chief conservator of forests and reclassification of land was done later.