Land encroachment case: MHC quashes NCSC's order

CHENNAI: The National Commission for Scheduled Castes can issue orders only when the rights of a Scheduled Caste people are denied, said the Madras High Court while hearing the petition related to the temple land encroachment by a Scheduled Caste man Srinivasan who lives in Madepalli, Krishnagiri.

A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy had quashed the order issued by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and directed the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) department to clear the encroachments on the temple lands.

Earlier, Jayaraman, an ex-serviceman, had lodged a complaint with the HR&CE demanding that Srinivasan encroached on 3.75 acres of land belonging to the Sakkiamman temple in V Madepalli, Krishnagiri district.

Then, the HR&CE issued notice to the one Srinivasan to vacate the temple land. Assailing this,

Srinivasan approached National Commission for Scheduled Castes against the notice sent to him by the HR&CE.

Based on his complaint, the commission ordered that no action should be taken against the notice. Subsequently, plaintiff Jayaraman moved the Madras High Court seeking to quash the order passed by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes in excess of jurisdiction. When this petition came up for hearing before the division bench, the HR&CE department informed that notices were sent to the 11 people who encroached the temple land and the encroachments could not be removed due to the order of the NCSC.

After the hearing, the division bench quashed the order issued by NCSC and directed the HR&CE to clear the encroachments and closed the case by imposing a fine of Rs 1,000 for Srinivasan for concealing the information.