மதுரை 400 கோடி மதிப்பு உள்ள கோதண்டராமர் கோவில் நிலம் SC pulls up Madras HC for taking land on lease
மதுரை உயர் நீதிமன்ற மதுரைக் கிளைக்கு முன் பகுதியில் உள்ள 400 கோடி மதிப்பு உள்ள கோதண்டராமர் கோவில் நிலத்தை நீதிமன்ற பயன்பாட்டுக்கு குத்தகைக்கு கேட்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.
SC pulls up Madras HC for taking land on lease
The Supreme Court criticized the Madras high court for signing a lease with the Tamil Nadu government for a parcel of land while acquisition proceedings were pending. The court said the high court should have waited for the acquisition process to conclude and not become a lessee. The lease agreement has been put on hold, and the state government will take possession of the land as a caretaker. The matter will be heard again on February 20. The high court had issued directions for the acquisition of the land for public use based on a public interest litigation.
New Delhi The Supreme Court on Friday criticised the Madras high court for signing a lease with the Tamil Nadu government to use a parcel for parking and other facilities for its Madurai bench campus even though the acquisition proceedings for that land remained pending.
According to a bench of justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan, the high court ought to have waited for the acquisition process to conclude instead of rushing into the agreement as a lessee.
“We don’t want to say much but this is not the way the high court should conduct...Is this the impression high court wants to give to people? We don’t want to comment more but it is very disturbing...Why is the high court becoming a lessee?” the bench commented.
Putting the lease agreement of the high court with the state government in abeyance, the court added that it acknowledges the problems that the high courts and district judiciary face on account of inadequate infrastructure.
“But these problems are to be resolved in a lawful manner. Why can’t the state take possession of the land and give it to the high court? We don’t want the high court to become a litigant. We deprecate it. We don’t approve of it,” the court told senior counsel Guru Krishnakumar, who appeared for the high court administration.
Responding, Krishnakumar said that the parcel of land was being used for parking facility for the Madurai Bench campus and that the high court was contemplating administrative offices too. “It used to be a dump yard. We entered into a lease with the HR&CE department (Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department) to start using the land immediately,” he added.
But the bench responded that the high court should not use its judicial power to take over the possession of the land. “It has to be done in a certain manner. Why are you pre-empting the state government from taking over the land in acquisition? You silently hand over the possession to the state... high court should gracefully walk out of the land.”
In its order, the bench recorded the statement of Tamil Nadu’s advocate general PS Raman that the acquisition process for the parcel of land situated close to the court campus was initiated in terms of a previous order of the Supreme Court in May 2023.
“He submits that some of the procedural compliances with the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, needs to be dispensed with to expedite the acquisition. To consider this prayer and other related issues, post this matter on February 20. Till such a time, the lease agreement purportedly executed between the high court and HR&CE department is kept in abeyance,” stated the order.
It added: “The state government shall take the possession of land as a caretaker and will also control ingress and egress.”
The bench was hearing an appeal against a February 2023 order of the Madurai bench of the Madras high court that issued a series of directions for the acquisition of a parcel of temple land near the court campus for public use. The direction was passed on a public interest litigation filed by M Saravanan, who wanted the land parcel to be acquired and used by the high court for building parking and other facilities for the court users.
The high court noted that the registrar general of the Madras high court in 2021 requested the state government to identify around 10 acres of land close to the Madurai bench campus, with good road access and other basic facilities. The government had also taken a policy decision to offer 6.49 acre of land opposite the high court and another piece of land measuring three acre, both of which were endowed to Kothanda Ramaswamy Temple.
Observing that there is an urgent need for additional land and that the HR&CE department came forward to sell the land at the market price, the high court in its 2023 order directed the authorities to expedite the land acquisition process. One of the appellants before the Supreme Court, however, claimed that it was not a temple land under the HR&CE department.
கோயில் நிலத்தை உயர் நீதிமன்றத்துக்கு விற்றால் மிகப் பெரிய போராட்டம்: எச்.ராஜா எச்சரிக்கை
https://www.hindutamil.in/news/tamilnadu/1005100-h-raja-talks-on-temple-land-1.html
TN: Expedite acquisition of temple land near HC for public use
MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court recently issued a series of directions for the acquisition of a parcel of temple land, which is situated close to the court campus, for public use. A bench of justices G Jayachandran and KK Ramakrishnan passed the order on a petition filed in 2019 by M Saravanan, who wanted the land parcel to be acquired and used by the high court for building parking and other facilities for the court users.
The judges noted that the registrar general of the Madras High Court in 2021 requested the state government to identify around 10 acres of land close to the Madurai Bench campus, with good road access and other basic facilities. The department had also taken a policy decision to offer 6.49 acres of land opposite the HC and another piece of land measuring three acres along Narasingam Road, both of which were endowed to Kothanda Ramaswamy Temple.
The executive officer of the temple had requested revenue officials to ascertain the market value of the land so as to proceed with the acquisition of the land, but the process is still pending, the judges added. Observing that there is an urgent need for additional land and also considering the fact that the HR and CE department has come forward to sell the land at the market price, the judges ordered the authorities to expedite the land acquisition process with directions to the revenue officials to notify the tentative market price within three weeks. Subsequently, the state government could make arrangements for the payments, the court added.
https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2023/Feb/26/tn-expedite-acquisition-of-temple-land-near-hc-for-public-use-2550954.html
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