Grabbing Property Using Political Party's Name Must Be Crushed With Iron Hand, Such Activities Challenge Democracy & Rule Of Law: Madras High Court

Noting that there has been a spate of complaints where persons are involved in land grabbing in the garb of belonging to a particular political party, the Madras High Court on Friday (12th February) directed that Police Protection be provided to petitioners and action be taken against the land grabbers. The Court also observed, "It is high time for the political bosses to take control of their cadres and stop them from involving in such activities of land grabbing, failing which, it will have a direct impact on the reputation of the political party. The Bench of Justice N. Anand Venkatesh was hearing the plea of one S.Dhanasekharen who sought police protection, pursuant to the complaint given by him on 29th January 2021. The case in brief Petitioner is involved in real estate business and a property was purchased by the petitioner under various registered sale deeds in the year 2018 and 2019. Thereafter, the petitioner was accorded sanction for carrying out a housing scheme and the petitioner and his partners are the promoters of the housing scheme. However, due to the pandemic, he was not able to carry on with the work due and could resume the work only from August 2020 onwards. When the work was being carried out at the site, the private respondents allegedly barged into the property and demanded some money. When this was questioned, those persons allegedly issued threats and abused the workmen, who were present at the site. Those persons had also made it very clear that they belong to a particular political party named Viduthalai siruthaigal and there is nothing that can be done against them, unless money is paid to them. Court's observations At the outset, the Court noted, "Political parties are supposed to work for the welfare of the people and the name of the political party should not be used for the purpose of land grabbing. Unfortunately, when complaints are given to the police, they are also not in a position to react effectively fearing consequences." Importantly, the Court sternly remarked, "These attempts made to demand money in the name of election expenses and to grab the property by using the name of the political party must be crushed with iron hands. These activities are a direct challenge to democracy and rule of law. No one is above law and it includes even political parties." The Court also took into account a photograph, produced by the Petitioner wherein it is seen that persons claiming to be belonging to a particular political party, have put up a shamiana in the property and that all of them are comfortably sitting in a chair and illegally occupying the property. To this, the Court said, "This Court cannot turn a blind eye to such blatant illegal activities committed by certain persons claiming to belong to a particular political party." In view of the above, the Court directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Avadi, to immediately provide police protection to the petitioner and ensure that action is taken against the land grabbers The concerned DCP was also directed to ensure that nobody takes advantage of their status claiming to be a cadre in a particular political party and continue to cause a threat to the petitioner and attempt to grab the property. Lastly, the petitioner was directed to make fresh representation to the concerned DCP along with all the relevant documents and also, a copy of this order and the writ petition was disposed of with the above directions. In related news, last month the Madras High Court (Madurai Bench had observed that unauthorized construction are mushrooming on revenue land all over the place. Noting this, the Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice M. M. Sundresh had directed the Government to ensure a sense of discipline and uniformly demolish any kind of unauthorized construction on revenue land, be it the construction of any religious idol or made for political considerations. Further, in December 2020, while taking Judicial note of the fact that many political parties and communal organizations along with some black-sheeps in the Police Force as well as in the administration, are indulging in Land Grabbing, the Madras High Court had observed, "It is unfortunate that even some people claiming to be Advocates dressed up in black and white also act, like 'paid hooligans' to grab the properties with the connivance of land grabbers." Case title - S.Dhanasekharen v. The Commissioner of Police and others [W.P.No.3120 of 2021 and WMP No.3543 of 2021] Click Here To Download OrderRead Order

Grabbing Property Using Political Party's Name Must Be Crushed With Iron Hand, Such Activities Challenge Democracy & Rule Of Law: Madras High Court

Sparsh Upadhyay

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