Madras HC asks DMK MP to vacate govt land by a month

The Madras high court on Friday granted a month's time to DMK MP Dr V Kalanidhi to vacate a property belonging to the government here and hand over the possession to it.

Chennai: The Madras high court on Friday granted a month’s time to DMK MP Dr V Kalanidhi to vacate a property belonging to the government here and hand over the possession to it.

Justice S M Subramaniam disposed of the petitions filed by Kalanidhi, which sought to restrain the authorities from interfering with his property, where a hospital is situated.

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The judge said in the present case, the petitioner cannot said to be a landless poor person. The father of the petitioner N Veerasamy is a former Minister and the Kalanidhi himself was a sitting member of Parliament. The petitioner belongs to an affluent family and therefore the possibility of political abuse cannot be overruled in the present cases, the judge added.

The judge said this court was witnessing that in multitude cases, the assignment of government lands are done to the powerful and influential members of the society, who may not be bonafide applicants and in turn these government lands were used for commercial purposes.

The judge said the government was not empowered to grant lands based on their own whims and fancies. A guideline needs to be put in place to ensure that power in assignment of Grama Natham lands was bridled and used for the rightful purposes to the rightful people.

The government was not just for politicians and party men. It is the representative of the common man. It does not only include the top echelons of the society, but travels to the bottom rung of the ladder and it was the inherent duty of the government to work for their upliftment both socially and economically.

This can be achieved through schemes, such as assignment of Government lands, Natham lands, which was a welfare measure, the judge added.