Madras HC directs T.N. govt. to take possession of 25.6 grounds of public land in private occupation since 1902

The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to take possession of 25.6 grounds of prime land at St. Thomas Mount in Chennai after imposing costs of ₹1 lakh on three individuals who attempted to claim ownership over the public property that had been in private occupation since 1902.

The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to take possession of 25.6 grounds of prime land at St. Thomas Mount in Chennai after imposing costs of ₹1 lakh on three individuals who attempted to claim ownership over the public property that had been in private occupation since 1902.

A Division Bench of Justices S.S. Sundar and K. Rajasekar directed the Kancheepuram Collector, District Revenue Officer, and Alandur Taluk Tahsildar to invoke even the Tamil Nadu Land Encroachment Act of 1905, if necessary, to take possession of the land and file a status report before the court on February 3, 2025.

The orders were passed while dismissing a writ appeal filed jointly by E. Dhanapal, N. Poongothai, and P. Krishnaveni, represented by their power of attorney A.I. Sageer, claiming title over the property on the basis of certain property documents dating back to 1902 and multiple transactions that took place subsequently.

Opposing the claim, Additional Advocate General R. Ramanlaal brought it to the notice of the court that the documents relied upon by the appellants show that the appellants’ predecessors-in-title had acknowledged the collection of ‘quit rent’, which was normally collected from persons in occupation of government poramboke (waste) lands.

Further, advocate Chevanan Mohan, representing the Chief Executive Officer of the Cantonment Board, functioning under the Ministry of Defence, at St. Thomas Mount and Pallavaram, told the Division Bench that the land in question had been classified as ‘B2’ (State government land) in the General Land Register.

After hearing the parties at length, the judges wrote: “This litigation is an attempt to grab the land of the government. Therefore, the same is liable to be dismissed with exemplary costs.” Nevertheless, taking a lenient view, the judges said, they decided to restrict the cost amount to just ₹1 lakh to be paid collectively by all three appellants.

They were directed to pay the amount to the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority within four weeks. The judges said, none of the documents produced by the appellants dating back to 1902 had disclosed the source of the title, except for highlighting how one vendor received it from the previous vendor.