Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Court orders notice to Kodanadu estate

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Thursday said that if any further construction is made by the Kodanadu Estate in the Nilgiris district during the pendency of writ appeals, it would be open for the executive authority, the Kodanadu village panchayat, to take steps in accordance with the law, which would be subject to the decision on the appeals.

A Division Bench, comprising Justices S.J. Mukhopadhaya and V. Dhanapalan, ordered notice to the estate returnable in three weeks.

It said the appeals may be disposed of at the stage of admission.

The appeals have been posted for admission on October 28.

In the appeals, the President, Executive Authority of the Kodanadu Village Panchayat and the village panchayat have challenged a single judge’s order setting aside the show cause notices issued to the estate.

The appellants submitted that while one called upon the estate to produce material to justify the legality of constructions within the estate land, another was issued by referring to an unauthorised construction of a huge residential bungalow to an extent of 3751.87 sq.metres.

The appeals stated that the judge was not justified in holding that the inspection done on the estate was illegal.

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