Madurai
An agriculturalist belonging to a scheduled caste moved the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday seeking a direction to the State to restore the panchami lands in Theni district to the rightful people.
In his petition, B. Eswaran of Periyakulam in Theni district said that several serial numbers in Periyakulam were identified to be panchami lands and had been allocated to people belonging to the scheduled castes.
But the lands were occupied by people belonging to the dominant castes. They suppressed the classification that the lands were actually panchami lands. Such occupation of panchami lands is a criminal offence under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, he said.
He sought a direction to the State to allot the lands to the rightful people. A Division Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and S. Ananthi ordered the notice to the State and adjourned the hearing in the case till February 24.
