It is the duty of the local bodies to maintain government lands and properties, as these for public welfare schemes. Their encroachment amounts to infringement of citizens’ rights, the Madras High Court said.
Justice S.M. Subramanium, who was hearing a case filed by A. Lakshmanan seeking to quash an order from the additional district judge-cum-Revenue officer, Coimbatore, directed the Collector to initiate appropriate action to evict encroachments from poromboke lands, water bodies and water resources.
The judge said if there was any negligence or dereliction on the part of government officials concerned, the District Collector was bound to initiate suitable disciplinary proceedings under the Tamil Nadu Civil Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules.
Order upheld
Mr. Lakshmanan had filed a writ petition that he was the owner of a property claiming that the patta was granted in 1931. Upholding the order of the additional district judge, Justice Subramanium directed the petitioner to approach the appropriate civil court.
“It is an ancestral property and the petitioner claims that the entries in the revenue registers were made erroneously. Therefore, the land is to be reclassified as patta land, enabling the petitioner to get patta, ” the judge said. However, a certified copy of the ‘A’ Register and the Resettlement records were produced showing that the land was a karadu or poromboke, he added.
“If at all the petitioner is the owner of the property and the land in question is a patta land, it is left open to the petitioner to approach the appropriate civil court of law for establishing his civil rights,” Justice Subramanium said.