Madurai: The Madurai bench of the Madras High
Court has declined to give a direction to the state government
to give back to a person eight acres acquired for constructing
a water tank at Pattukottai in Thanjavur district.
The bench gave this direction while dismissing a writ
petition from one P Rangasamy,seeking a direction to the state
government to give him back the land on the ground that only
part of it was used by the municipality for the tank while the
rest of it was planned to be sold to a Polytechnic Society on
the basis of a Dec 5 1983 Government Order.
Justice K Chandru, dismissing the petition, rejected the
argument that the government was not empowered to sell the
land, originally acquired for a public purpose, to a private
society. "The term public purpose as found in Land Acquisition
Act cannot be understood in a narrow sense," he said.
He also rejected the pertitioner's second contention that
an acquired land should be reconveyed to the owner if it was
not used for the purpose for which it was acquired.
The judge said the Apex Court had recently held that the
government could not be compelled to reconvey the land if it
could be utilised for any public purpose other than the one
for which it was acquired.
PTI
First Published: Monday, November 15, 2010, 21:06