The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday ordered notice to the State on a public interest litigation petition that sought a direction to the government to upload revised master plans on the official website and ensure mentioning of land classification at the time of registration for the benefit of the public.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice M.M. Sundresh observed that if revised master plans were uploaded on the official website, it would ensure that things moved according to the plans and reduce red tapism. The court directed the State to file a comprehensive report in this regard.

The court was hearing the PIL petition filed by M. Maruthupandian of Ramanathapuram. The petitioner said he had come across a number of cases where innocent purchasers were victimised. They purchased properties on the belief that they were commercial properties. But, when they went to authorities for building planning permission, it was denied.

The local planning authorities denied permission stating that building areas were commercial areas. The purchasers were unaware of this since the information was not being made available on the public domain. Facts were being kept a secret. If the details were uploaded on the official website, the purchasers would not fall prey to middlemen, he said.

He said the main objective of the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act, 1971, was to maintain transparency in the development of lands and towns. Master plans provided the manner in which the land of the planning area would be used and classified lands as residential, commercial, industrial or agricultural, he said.