Chenna

HC to take suo motu note of news report on illegal mining

Justice M.M. Sundresh of the Madras High Court on Thursday told a Special Government Pleader (SGP) that he intends to take up a suo motu public interest litigation petition on the basis of a news story that appeared in The Hindu on Wednesday under the title ‘Illegal sand quarrying in Tirukandalam lake raises concern.’

During the hearing of a PIL petition related to alleged illegal quarrying from Chinnar and South Pennaiyar river beds listed before a Division Bench comprising Justice R. Hemalatha, the judge told SGP E. Manohar that the news report had recorded the concerns of Tirukandalam villagers in Tiruvallur district of mining being done in the guise of removing top soil.

The senior judge told the law officer that he had written a letter to Chief Justice Amreshwar Pratap Sahi seeking permission for taking up a suo motu case on the basis of the news report. He also expressed his deep anguish over complaints of illegal quarrying being made incessantly despite several orders passed by the court over the years.

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