Chennai: Warning the revenue authorities of Kancheepuram, the Madras High Court on Thursday warned that it would not hesitate to use military force to remove an encroachment if the previous order is not complied with by Friday.
A bench comprising justices M Venugopal and S Vaidyanathan said that in one instance recently, relating to an encroachment, the High Court of Himachal Pradesh has directed the military force to remove the encroachment. So, the court may apply the the process for the case on hand. The court also mentioned that the petitioner’s husband was attacked in an “inhuman fashion.”
A contempt plea was filed by Jansi Rani of Muttukadu. The court had directed the block development officer to take steps to remove the encroachment made by an individual on public property near the petitioners house within four weeks.
But the official had failed to comply with the order. Following this, the petitioner had moved a contempt plea on 10 December 2018. When the contempt plea came up for hearing recently, the court granted time to the authorities till 2 January. However, on Thursday’s hearing, the petitioner informed the court that the order was yet to be complied with. She also alleged that her husband was attacked by the encroachers and that he has been hospitalised with serious injuries.
The bench, taking serious note of the this, said, “If the order dated January 18, 2018 passed by this court is not complied with by Friday, then this court will initiate contempt proceedings by issuance of statutory notice to all the respondents, including the secretary of the revenue department.”