The Madras High Court Bench here has come down on Thoothukudi district administration for demolishing seven shops belonging to a woman at Serakulam village in Srivaikundam taluk by mistaking them to have been built on an encroached land and then tampering with official records to justify their action since the woman filed a case seeking a compensation of Rs. 55 lakh.
Disposing of the writ petition filed by Nachiarammal, a Division Bench of Justices S. Manikumar and S.S. Sundar held that demolition of the shops by highways department officials was “illegal.” Nevertheless, it asked the woman to approach the civil court concerned seeking compensation since the quantum could not be determined by the High Court while exercising its writ jurisdiction.
The judges directed the Assistant Divisional Engineer, Highways Department, Srivaikundam, to forthwith hand over possession of the land, on which the shops had been constructed, to the petitioner and ordered that all respondents in the writ petition, including the Collector, Srivaikundam Tahsildar and Siethunganallur Inspector of Police, to treat the petitioner’s possession of the property as lawful.
Writing the judgement for the Bench, Mr. Justice Sundar said: “The information furnished to the petitioner under Right to Information Act and the original revenue records produced before this court clearly indicate that the revenue officials have made an attempt to tamper with the records for the purpose of justifying their hasty action in demolishing the building constructed by the petitioner.
“Though the petitioner is entitled to compensation for the illegal demolition of her shops for depriving her of the legitimate income from the newly constructed shops, we find that it is not appropriate for this forum to determine the quantum of compensation awardable to the petitioner under different heads since the matter requires evidence and adjudication of issues on the disputed question of facts.”
