In a first of its kind case, a sitting judge of the Madras High Court has filed a writ petition at its Bench here. He has sought a direction to Pudukottai Municipality not to proceed with laying of roads at Karpaga Nagar, where he owns a house, without removing encroachments, which had shrunk the width of the road considerably, and streamlining the drainage system.
Justice A. Selvam, the sixth senior most judge of the High Court after the Chief Justice and now presiding over a Division Bench for criminal cases here, had filed the case stating that public money would get wasted if roads were allowed to be laid now in Karpaga Nagar in a hasty manner with the ensuing elections in mind and re-laid again after removing the encroachments.
Justices S. Manikumar and C.T. Selvam disposed of the writ petition after recording the submissions of Additional Advocate General K. Chellapandian that Additional Director (Survey) had already measured the width of the roads which had reportedly shrunk from 30 to 12 feet and that they would be laid only after removal of encroachments pursuant to the elections.
