Justices M Sathyanarayanan and P Rajamanickam observed that they can take judicial notice of the fact that citizens nowadays lack civic sense to act in a responsible and orderly manner.
Madurai: The Madras high court granted time to a petitioner to remove a religious structure, which is encroaching upon the road margin of a state highway in Dindigul district.
The court was hearing the petition filed by N Sathyaraj, who is an archakar seeking to forbear the authorities from demolishing Sri Karuppanasamy temple, Shivan temple and Vinayagar temple constructed at Thottanuthu village in Dindigul district.
The counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that the highways authorities under the erroneous impression that the temple has encroached upon a public land, has issued a notice under the Tamil Nadu highways Act, 2001. He submitted that the petitioner had submitted his response pointing out that the temple was situated away from the road margin and cannot be termed as an encroachment.
The additional government pleader appearing for the authorities submitted that since the temple has been constructed without any authority by encroaching upon the road margin, steps have been taken to remove the encroachment under the provisions of the Act.
NEWS IN
BRIEF
Your one-minute Citynews catch up
Russia’s decision to approve a coronavirus shot before tests have shown it’s safe & effective raises worries that politics will trump public health in the quest for a vaccine. The country’s plan to start mass inoculations as soon as October could put pressure on other governments to rush ahead of regulators and skip key steps, putting people who get the jabs at risk.
Former India opener Chetan Chauhan died on Sunday due to COVID-19 related complications after being put on life support for nearly 36 hours, his brother Pushpendra Chauhan said. Chauhan, who played 40 Tests for India, was 73 and is survived by his wife and son Vinayak, who is scheduled to arrive from Melbourne later in the day.
The political thriller that played out at Thenpennai, the official residence of O Panneerselvam on Saturday had shades of his 2017 “dharmayudh”. With the power play between OPS and CM Edappadi K Palaniswami out in the open, the ruling AIADMK is faced with the tough question yet again – who will be the chief ministerial candidate for the 2021 assembly election?
Sonia Gandhi on Sunday constituted a 3-member committee of Ahmed Patel, KC Venugopal (AICC Gen Secy, incharge Organisantion) and Ajay Maken (AICC Gen Secy, Incharge, Rajasthan) to oversee and ensure the smooth resolution of recent issues in Rajasthan. Congress appointed Maken as the general secretary in-charge of Rajasthan, replacing Avinash Pandey with immediate effect.
The Met department issued a red alert of extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places in Pune and Satara districts of Maharashtra on Monday, an official said. The forecast also predicted heavy rainfall at isolated places in Mumbai, Raigad, and Palghar from Monday onwards, he said, adding that the intensity of rains would reduce from Tuesday.
“You will always be my captain,” said India skipper Virat Kohli to MS Dhoni on Sunday, expressing gratitude for the “friendship and belief” that he got from the talismanic senior. In a nearly minute-long video posted on the BCCI’s Twitter handle, Kohli said Dhoni’s retirement is that rare moment in his life when he doesn’t have enough words to express his thoughts.
A division bench of Justices M Sathyanarayanan and P Rajamanickam observed that the petitioner has no legal or vested right to construct the structure without any authority, that too, on the road margin. Hence, the judges said that it is open to the authorities to initiate appropriate action in accordance with the Act.
Since the counsel appearing for the petitioner sought time to remove the structures, the judges granted time to the petitioner till August 31 and dismissed the petition.
The judges further observed that the photographs produced by the petitioner would disclose that there are other structures existing on the road margin and therefore, the authorities shall carry out inspection on the stretch of the road to ascertain whether the structures are authorized. The judges directed the authorities to submit a status report in this regard on September 11.
- Madurai: Disposing of a petition which sought to prevent vehicles being parked on a street in Madurai, Madras high court observed that adherence to the rule of law and orderly behaviour should come from within and it is extremely difficult to enforce these kinds of discipline through court orders.
The court was hearing the petition filed by S M Ramasamy who sought to remove the illegal and unlawful parking of four-wheelers and autorickshaws by residents of Lourdhu Nagar West Second Cross Street at K Pudur which blocked access to the street.
Madurai Corporation standing counsel submitted that under the Madurai City Municipal Corporation Act, they have powers only to remove encroachments and projections on public streets. However, it was open to the petitioner to approach the jurisdictional police in which case the corporation authorities would also extend their maximum cooperation.
A division bench of Justices M Sathyanarayanan and P Rajamanickam observed that they can take judicial notice of the fact that citizens nowadays lack civic sense to act in a responsible and orderly manner. The court has also come across many incidents where even the affluent and educated are not willing to adhere to the law and discipline. Due to this, many incidents of unauthorised parkings on public roads were causing utmost inconvenience to pedestrians and road users.
The judges said that it was also open to the petitioner to submit a representation along with photographs to the police, who is expected to take immediate and appropriate action in accordance with law. The judges observed that a perusal of the photographs would reveal that there are many projections on the public street and therefore it is open to the corporation to inspect and find out whether the constructions were authorized or not.
