Iron hand needed to deal with political parties trying to grab lands, says HC

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court observed that attempts by political party cadres to grab properties and demand money for election expenses must be crushed with an iron hand, and ordered the Avadi Deputy Commissioner of Police to provide protection to the petitioner.

The petitioner, S Dhanasekharen, had approached court seeking protection claiming that some VCK cadre demanded money from him and posed many roadblocks for his house construction. He also submitted a photo showing some persons illegally occupying his property by putting up a shamiana there.

Recording all submissions, Justice Anand Venkatesh said, “There has been a spate of complaints of similar nature. Political parties are supposed to work for the welfare of the people. No party should be allowed to use political power to grab lands. Unfortunately, fearing consequences, police personnel also refrain from taking appropriate action on these complaints.

Senior leaders must immediately order their cadre to keep away from such activities. This will have a direct impact on the party’s reputation.”“Attempts to demand money in the name of election expenses, and to grab properties using the name of any political party must be crushed with an iron hand.

These activities are a direct challenge to democracy. This court cannot turn a blind eye to such incidents,” the justice said and directed Avadi Deputy Commissioner of Police to immediately provide protection to the victim and take action against those occupying the land illegally.