IT firm says Pallikaranai land bought from retired HC judge

IG Infra Ltd., accused of trying to mortgage a portion of the marshland at Pallikaranai here to get a Rs 1,350-crore loan, Thursday contended in the Madras High Court that the property was private land bought from a retired judge with valid documents.

The company said the land was not marshland as alleged and had been purchased between 2004 and 2007 through sale deeds from the Power of Attorney of retired high court judge G Ramanujam.

The matter relates to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by social activist M Sentil Kumar based on a newspaper report that the IT firm allegedly attempted to mortgage a portion of the marshland, protected by an order of the court, after obtaining 'patta' (land ownership document) in collusion with forest and revenue authorities.

According to the petitioner, the entire marshland was in 2013 assigned to the state forest department by the Chennai Corporation under the Forest Act, 1888.

The counter submitted that the land referred to by the petitioner was not marshland assigned by the government or any authority in the government to the company, but was a private property bought through sales deeds and their title was also supported by revenue records.

The company said it had also developed the land into an IT Park with 18 tenants with more than 15,000 employees and set up Information Technology Special Economic Zones by constructing a spacious and elegant building on a campus measuring approximately 20 acres.

IG Infra Ltd, while listing out the details of the registered sale deeds, said the title to the property has been the subject matter of numerous title verifications at the instance of banks and lending institutions.

Hence, the counter sought the court to vacate its interim injunction restraining the Sub-Registrar, Saidapet, from registering the mortgage deed and also dismiss the petition.

On October 1, the court had restrained the registration department from registering any mortgage deed involving the portion of marshland and also directed the officials concerned not to grant lease of the land to the company.