The Madras High Court has deprecated the practice of rushing to court without waiting for a decision by authorities on representations.
A Division Bench comprising Justices S.K. Agnihotri and M. Venugopal said the practice is tantamount to abuse of judicial process.
In one case, P. Rajendra Singh had filed an appeal with the State government last month, seeking a direction to the Chennai Corporation to unlock an establishment on Govindappa Naicken Street, Sowcarpet. Now he has approached the court with a writ petition seeking a direction to the authorities to remove the lock.
The Bench said that 90 days had been provided in the relevant law for the authorities to take action and dispose of a revision/appeal. But the petitioner had moved the High Court within 24 days of appealing to the State authorities. Thus, the writ petition is not maintainable, the Bench said.
The Bench has passed a similar order on a petition by P. Palani who sought a direction to the district collector of Kancheepuram district, to dispose of his appeal under the Land Encroachment Act expeditiously. In this case, the petition had been filed within eight days.
