The Madras High Court on Friday held that the Coimbatore North Tahsildar was not empowered to order the closure of numerous brick kilns situated in and around the elephant corridor at Thadagam valley. The court directed the District Collector to pass appropriate orders on the issue, within four weeks, after affording an opportunity of hearing to the brick kiln owners in accordance with the principles of natural justice.
Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana made it clear that no further extension of time would be granted to the Collector for completing the exercise and passing appropriate orders. She also said that the Collector could proceed with the inquiry forthwith and permitted the brick kiln owners to submit all relevant documents before the official in support of their claim that they were operating legally after obtaining necessary approvals.
“It is open to the respondents to take any action against the brick kilns, including the petitioners before the court, if it is found that the same have been operated without any license / clearance in the manner known to law. This order would not preclude the authorities in exercising their powers in accordance with law. It is also made clear that the owners of the brick kilns can run the show if they possess a valid licence and other documents to do so,” the judge said.
The orders were passed while disposing of a huge batch of writ petitions filed by the brick kiln owners. The judges agreed with senior counsel P. Wilson, R. Singaravelan, V. Raghavachari and others that the Tahsildar was not empowered to order closure of the kiln. Stating that the law empowers only the Collector to pass such orders, she set aside the closure orders passed by the Tahsildar.
