The Madras High Court Bench here on Tuesday directed its Registry to club all writ petitions as well as public interest litigation petitions filed in connection with the location of a proposed Government Medical College Hospital in Karur district and post them for hearing before a Division Bench of Justices K.K. Sasidharan and G.R. Swaminathan on Thursday.
The First Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana issued the direction after it was brought to its notice, during the hearing of a PIL petition filed by M.N. Prabhu, a former AIADMK councillor, that two other writ petitions relating to the location of the proposed medical college were already pending before the court.
Presenting the PIL petitioner’s case before the First Bench, Senior Counsel Vijay Narayan stated that it was the endeavour of the State Government to establish a government medical college hospital in every district. Accordingly, former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, had on August 12, 2014, announced the government’s decision to establish a college in Karur.
Subsequently, two residents of Karur — K.G. Prem and G. Pradeep Kumar — owning large tracts of land at Kuppichipalayam and other neighbouring villages, offered to donate a portion of their land for the college. However, the government authorities did not find those lands suitable for the college since they were situated far away from the district headquarters hospital.
Finally, it was decided to establish the college in the heart of Karur town in a land belonging to the municipality since it was very close to the district headquarters hospital.
The government also accorded financial sanction for ₹229.46 crore for the project but it could not take off due to impediments created by those who had offered to donate their lands, counsel pointed out.
Additional Advocate General B. Pugalendhi told the court that the construction work could not commence due to interim orders passed in two other cases pending before single judges of the High Court.
