The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has ordered an interim injunction restraining Tiruchi district administration from locating a Tasmac shop in Morupatti village in Musiri in Tiruchi district. The villagers complained against the setting up of the Tasmac shop.
A Division Bench of Justices R. Suresh Kumar and R. Vijayakumar directed the authorities to file a counter affidavit on a petition filed by S. Rathinavel of Morupatti who sought a direction to the authorities not to set up the Tasmac shop in the village. The main contention of the villagers and the petitioner was that there was a temple near the proposed location of the shop. The villagers said that the setting up a Tasmac shop would cause hardship to the villagers and could lead to law and order issues.
When the objections were raised last year, the authorities said that there was no proposal to set up a new Tasmac shop in the village. However, this year, the Tiruchi Collector passed an order on the setting up of the Tasmac shop in the village, they said.
The court said that according to the rules if any objection comes from the public with regard to the location of the Tasmac shop, the same shall be objectively considered by the Collector concerned after giving an opportunity of being heard to them. The court took note of the fact that the Collector’s order did not mention any temple located in the locality. When there was a specific objection made by the villagers, the same has not been considered, the judges said.
Therefore, the court feels that the rule has not been properly followed by the Collector while deciding the location of the Tasmac shop, the judges said and ordered an interim injunction restraining the authorities from locating the Tasmac shop for the time being. The court sought a counter affidavit and adjourned the hearing in the case to June 20.
