The State on Monday told the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court that pursuant to its order shops belonging to Usilampatti panchayat union, which had been previously allotted to private persons, were sealed and those persons were no longer in possession of the shops.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice M. Duraiswamy took note of the submission and directed the authorities to file an affidavit in this regard. The court was also informed that a public auction was conducted for the allotment of shops.
Earlier, the court took a serious view of the transfer of licence for the allotment of shops and observed that prima facie the transfer was illegal and without jurisdiction. The court granted a stay on the resolution passed in this regard and directed the shops be locked and sealed.
The court was hearing the petition filed by V. P. Ammavasai, a ward member of Usilampatti panchayat union. He sought a direction to cancel the transfer of licence to third parties. He said without inviting a tender, resolutions were passed to transfer the licence.
The petitioner said this could cause revenue loss to the panchayat union and some of them had indulged in falsification of documents to get the transfer done. He said the shops should be locked and sealed taking into account the violations.
