A Single Judge Bench of the Madras High Court, comprising of Justice T. S. Sivagnanam and Justice S. Anathi in the case of J.Murugavalli v. The Commissioner, Kodaikanal Municipality & Ors. has observed that Municipality (Respondent 1) should check to curb the land from the encroachments and dismissed the petition by stating that the dispute between the petitioner and Respondent 3 and 4 should be decided in Civil Court as it was already pending there.
“The inter-se property dispute between the petitioner and the respondents 3 and 4 should be agitated only before the Civil Court.”
Background of the Case
In this case, the Petitioner named J.Murugavalli was a resident of Dindigul District. Respondent 3 and 4 illegally encroached into his property.
Therefore, the Petitioner filed Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking issuance of a writ of Mandamus directing the 1st respondent to take appropriate action and stop the illegal construction made by the respondents 3 and 4 in the petitioner's house in Dindigul District, as per the provision contemplated under Section 217-J of Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act, 1920.
Reasoning and Decision of the Court
The Court primarily focused on the pending suit between the Petitioner and Respondent 3 and 4 and expressed that:
“the present writ petition at the instance of the writ petitioner for such a wider relief, much of which is already pending before the civil Court cannot be granted. Therefore, no positive direction can be granted as sought for by the writ petitioner”.
The Court itself admitted that there was large-scale unauthorized construction being put up in the Palani hills falling within the jurisdiction of the respondent-Municipality and directed the Municipality to do an inspection to check whether there is any unauthorized construction.
Therefore, the Court disposed of the petition without imposing any cost on it as the civil suit was already pending before the Civil Court.
Case Details
Case: - W.P.(MD)No.7914 of 2021
Petitioner: - J.Murugavalli
Respondent: - The Commissioner, Kodaikanal Municipality & Ors
Counsel for Petitioner: - Mr.J.Jeyakumaran
Counsel for Respondent: - Mr.J.S.Mohammed Mohideen, Mr.K.P.Krishnadoss
Judge: Justice T. S. Sivagnanam and Justice S. Anathi
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