The Government of Kerala has questioned the territorial jurisdiction of the Madras High Court to entertain a public interest litigation petition seeking deployment of Central security forces at Mullaperiyar dam site.
The question was raised in a written submissions filed on behalf of the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police of Kerala in reply to the PIL petition filed by Tamil Nadu Public Works Department Senior Engineers' Association before the High Court Bench here.
Kerala Advocate General K.P. Dandapani came here along with Special Government Pleader Tom K. Thomas to file the written submissions through G.R. Swaminathan, counsel on record. They expressed their readiness to argue the matter.
A Division Bench of Justices Chitra Venkataraman and R. Karuppiah adjourned the matter to January 23 after petitioner's counsel B. Stalin sought time to reply to questions posed by the judges on the maintainability of the petition.
Ms. Justice Venkataraman wanted to know how an association representing government servants could file a case on dispute involving two State governments. She also wondered what the High Court could do when the Supreme Court was seized of the matter. “We cannot superimpose the orders passed by the Supreme Court. We are satisfied that there is no cause. The Central government knows how to protect the rights of the people of both States. Do not sensationalise the issue in the name of a PIL,” the judge told petitioner's counsel.
In the written submissions, it was stated that the Supreme Court on December 15 had disposed of a similar plea to deploy Central forces at the dam site after accepting Kerala's statement that local police and forest personnel had taken steps to ensure the dam safety besides protecting facilities and properties belonging to Tamil Nadu.
Insofar as the other plea of the present petitioner with regard to alleged illegal encroachment of land at the dam site was concerned, the Kerala government stated that those issues could be raised before the Expert Committee constituted by the apex court in 2009 under the chairmanship of former Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand.
“The Committee has been requested [by the Supreme Court] to hear parties to the suit on all issues that will be raised before it without being limited to the issues that have been raised before the Supreme Court. Thus, the honourable Supreme Court is effectively seized of the matter… and has been passing interim orders from time to time.”
