HC clarifies on applications for building regularisation

The Madras High Court has clarified that no final decision on applications submitted for regularisation of unauthorised buildings in the state shall be taken without its permission.
The first bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar made the clarification when a PIL by advocate VBR Menon on the matter came up for hearing yesterday.
Passing the interim order, the bench said, "Applications for regularisation may be entertained and proceeded...But no final decision thereon shall be taken without the leave of the court."
The petitioner challenged two government orders issued on June 22this year for regularisation of unauthorised buildings under section 113-C of the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act, 1971, and sought to quash the same saying a perusal of the impugned orders shall reveal that these were just old wine in new bottles.

He submitted there were no provisions in the proposed regularisation scheme to deal with illegal constructions that came up after 2007 including additions and modifications made to already existing buildings, with or without sanctioned plans.
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development department had on June 22 passed two orders for regularisation of unauthorised constructions in the state in pursuant to the high court order on a petition in the wake of the recent fire accident at Chennai Silks textile showroom here.

Referring to a February 2014 order of the High Court, the petitioner said the validity of the G.O (Ms) nos. 234 and 235 issued on October 30, 2012 for regularisation of unauthorised constructions were struck down onthe grounds ofthe absence of appropriate rules, criteria and procedures for the implementation of the regularisation scheme.

Prima facie, the only purpose of notifying the impugned orders for regularisation of illegally constructed buildings in the state appears to be to somehowfill upthe state coffers, which were reportedto be almost empty at present, he contended.
Moreover, the proposed scheme has been announced without conducting necessarycomprehensive studies and collection of detailed data andstatistics regarding the geographical distribution, age, extents and categories of the illegally constructed buildings across the state, he claimed.
Having totally failed to perform their duties all along, the authorities do not have any right to seek any further Regularisation scheme until theyidentify and regularise all illegal constructions prior to1999 under Section 113-A of the Actof 1971, the petitioner said.