A public interest litigation petition has been filed in the Madras High Court Bench here alleging that IAS officer U. Sagayam was not a trustworthy official and therefore he should not be allowed to continue his enquiry into illegalities in granite quarrying in the district in his capacity as court-appointed Legal Commissioner.
The petitioner, K.K. Ramesh, Managing Trustee of Tamil Nadu Centre for Public Interest Litigation, a private organisation, claimed that Mr. Sagayam had not taken any tangible action against the granite mafia during his tenure as Madurai Collector between March 22, 2011, and May 28, 2012, but for writing a letter to the State government during the fag end of the tenure.
Stating that the District-Level Task Force (DLTF) and Taluk-Level Task Force (TLTF) on illicit mining should meet at least once a month and once a fortnight respectively, the petitioner said that information obtained by him revealed that the DLTF had met only once (September 9, 2011) during Mr. Sagayam’s tenure as Collector and the TLTF meetings were not conducted at all.
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Further alleging that permits were issued for 1.20 lakh cubic metres of granite blocks between March 2011 and May 2012, the petitioner said that it was Anshul Mishra, Mr. Sagayam’s successor to the post of Collector of Madurai, who had initiated appropriate action against the illegalities perpetrated by the granite mining firms.
“Mr. Sagayam did not take any tangible action against granite mafia during his tenure as Madurai Collector”