Considering the plea of Southern Railway, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Commissioner of Land Administration to hear the appeal of the railway against the order of the Commissioner of Land Survey and Settlement who declared a portion of the land in possession of the railway in Kottapattu village, Tiruchi district, as government land.
Southern Railway said that buildings and other structures were constructed on the land that was in its possession for many years. The land measuring 570.26 acres was used for workshop and other allied purposes. Under these circumstances, one S.I. Basheer Ahamed claimed possession of a portion of the land measuring 22.30 acres.
While deciding the claim made, the Commissioner of Land Survey and Settlement declared the land as a Tamil Nadu government land and rejected the claim made by Basheer Ahamed.
Subsequently, the Tiruchi East Tahsildar directed Southern Railway to remove the superstructure from the land measuring 22.30 acres. The Railway complained that the order was passed before they could prefer an appeal.
A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and M. Duraiswamy took into consideration the plea of Southern Railway and directed the Commissioner of Land Administration to hear the appeal in four weeks.
The court said till such time the order passed shall not be enforced and disposed of the petition.