The Madras High Court Bench here has restrained Thanjavur Local Planning Authority (LPA) from taking coercive action against Meenakshi Hospital, owned by promoters of Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre (MMHRC) here, on a charge of constructing a 15,799-square-metre building as against the approved plan for 4,350 square metres.
Justices V. Dhanapalan and V.M. Velumani directed the Housing and Urban Development Secretary to dispose of within six weeks a representation made by the hospital to exempt it from certain provisions of the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning (TNTCP) Act, 1971, and directed the LPA to keep its hands off the issue until the Secretary took a decision.
The orders were passed on a writ petition filed by S. Gurushankar, vice-chairman of the MMHRC, who claimed to have constructed the hospital after getting 3,443 square metres of land, at Neelagiri Therku Thottam village in Thanjavur district, reclassified from mixed residential use zone to public and semi-public use zone through a Government Order issued on August 2, 2010. Thereafter, he submitted an application under the TNTCP Act for building plan approval and began construction in 2011. The hospital commenced its services on January 5, 2013 after issuance of building completion certificate by the village panchayat. However, on August 5 this year, the LPA issued a notice asking the hospital management to produce the approved plan.
The Public Relations Officer of the hospital sought a month’s time to produce the original documents. Subsequently, on September 5, the LPA issued another notice saying the hospital had constructed a six-storey building apart from a basement floor though the building plan was approved only for construction of stilt plus four floors.
The second notice also said the management should demolish the additional constructions failing which the building would be sealed. A month later, Dr. Gurushankar made a representation to the State government seeking exemption for the hospital from certain provisions of the TNTCP Act and then filed the writ petition seeking a direction to dispose of the representation.
Writing the judgement for the Bench, Mr. Justice Dhanapalan said he was allowing the writ petition “taking into account the fact that the petitioner’s hospital is providing valuable medical assistance to the inmates of the hospital and the public at large and also catering to the social needs of the rural people in and around the historical district of Thanjavur…”
