Taking judicial notice that political leaders and communal organisations, along with “black sheep” in the police and administration, are known to indulge in land grabbing, a division bench comprising Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice B Pugalenthi, said registrars were also said to be hand-in-glove with land grabbers to fabricate documents. 

Expressing anguish that persons claiming to be advocates were acting like paid hooligans to grab land, the bench said: “It is very unfortunate that even some people claiming to be advocates also act like ‘paid hooligans’ to grab properties with the connivance of land grabbers. The police are also not registering cases against them, fearing there will be agitation by advocates.” 

The bench led by Justice Kirubakaran made these observations on a plea moved by one Muthaiah (90), who claimed his property was usurped by fabricating documents and have been fighting against it since 2008. Pointing out that the case raised an issue of public importance, the bench wondered what stopped the government from bringing about legislation to counter land grabbing despite a court order issued in 2015 seeking the State to do the same. 

“If the government is interested, in the next Assembly session or by a special session, it can pass an appropriate Act and protect the interest of property/land owners,” the bench said. Noting that the issue highlighted by the petitioner affected innocent landowners, it directed Advocate General Vijay Narayan to get appropriate instructions. The plea has been posted for further hearing to December 16.