The Madras High Court ordered authorities to give free house sites pattas to 500 scheduled community families whose land was set to be utilized for building Kallimandayam taluk. The land was allotted to the community in 2012 due to poor living conditions. When the petitioner submitted the representation to the grant pattas, he was informed that the land no longer belonged to the community, breaching the right of legitimate expectation. Justice G R Swaminathan observed that decision has been taken arbitrarily and free house sites must be give to the families within three months.
The Madras High Court ordered free house site pattas to residents affected by the authorities' decision to construct a taluk office on land that was earlier designated for issuing house site pattas in Dindigul district.
According to the petitioner, P Selvakumar, from the Arunthatiyar community, 500 scheduled caste families live in poor conditions in Teppampatti village. He added that when the residents applied for free house sites, the government allotted them land parcels in Kallimandayam in Oddanchatram taluk in 2012.
However, when the petitioner submitted the representation to the grant pattas, the authorities in 2022 informed that the land would be utilized for constructing a taluk office for the proposed Kallimandayam taluk. The petitioner then filed the present to challenge the order.
Furthermore, Justice G R Swaminathan stated that Oddanchatram has not been divided and Kallimandayam proposal has not been approved yet. On the other hand, the critical question to address is whether the process to allot patta to residents initiated 12 years ago must be disregarded to form new the taluk.
Additionally, the judge stated that the authorities did not conduct site evaluation to necessarily establish taluk office on the land belonging to schedule caste community and the court believes that the decision has been taken arbitrarily.
"It is obvious that no comparative evaluation exercise was undertaken. The officials on their own decided to prioritize putting up the taluk office over the allotment process for the beneficiaries," a media report states.
The judge also noted that the decision could not have been taken without consulting the stakeholders and confirmed that the proposed allotments have the right of legitimate expectation.
"I have no hesitation to come to the conclusion that the legitimate expectation of the proposed allotees has been seriously breached," the judge said.
The order issued by the court was passed considering the importance of benefits to 500 families over building a taluk office at the identified site and instructed the authorities to issue them free house site pattas. The order also noted handing the allotted sites to the community within three months.
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