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2009 Supreme(Mad) 1517
High Court of Judicature at Madras
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P.K. MISRA & THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE D. HARIPARANTHAMAN
K.R. Ramaswamy & Another
Versus
State rep. by, The Home Secretary & Others
Writ Petition No.41822 of 2006 and connected Miscellaneous Petitions
Decided on: 30-04-2009
For the Petitioners:K.R. Ramaswamy @ Traffic Ramaswamy, Party-in- Person, K. Ramasundaram, Advocate.
For the Respondents:R1 to R4 & R6, G. Desingu, Spl. G.P, R5, V. Bharathidasan, R7, R. Girirajan, R8, I. Paranthaman, R9 to R11, Sathish Parasaran, Advocates.
The main legal point established in the judgment is the court's authority to issue positive directions in public interest to ensure the implementation of statutory provisions and government orders for the benefit of the residents and the public at large.
Headnote:
Iron and Steel Market - Public Interest Litigation - Tamil Nadu Act 24 of 1996, Section 4 - The court discussed the lackadaisical attitude in implementing the Government Order in G.O.Ms.No.62, Housing and Urban Development (UD III (1) Department, dated 23.02.1999, the Tamil Nadu Specified Commodities Markets (Regulation of Location) Act, 1996, and the notifications issued under Section 4 of the Act declaring 'Sathangadu Iron and Steel Market Area' as the market area for Chennai Metropolitan area in respect of iron and steel materials.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioners sought the shifting of the wholesale trading of Iron and Steel goods from George Town area to Sathangadu as per the Government Order, due to the impact on the residential area. The court issued several directions to expedite the process, and ultimately directed the shifting to be completed by a specified date.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the official respondents were tardy in implementing the earlier directions, and expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of progress. The court took an activist approach in public interest and issued positive directions to ensure the completion of the shifting process.
Issues: The main issue was the non-compliance with the Government Order and the delay in shifting the wholesale trade of Iron and Steel goods to the designated market area, causing inconvenience to the residents.
Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized the importance of implementing the Government Order and the statutory provisions to address the grievances of the residents and decongest the affected areas in the public interest.
Final Decision: The court disposed of the writ petition with the positive direction that all steps shall be taken to shift the iron and steel market on or before 15th June 2009, with a warning of contempt proceedings for non-compliance.
P.K. Misra, J.
1. Heard all the counsel appearing for the parties.
2. This case clearly indicates the lackadaisical attitude shown by all concerned in implementing the Government Order in G.O.Ms.No.62, Housing and Urban Development (UD III (1) Department, dated 23.02.1999 that set the deadline as 28.02.1999 for shifting the wholesale trading of Iron and Steel goods from George Town area to Sathangadu. Now, 10 years have gone. Unfortunately, the things moved only at snails pace forcing this Court to issue several directions from time to time for personal appearances of officers concerned and for filing of status reports. Considering the nature of grievance of the people living in the George Town area, which is a residential area, i.e. residents in the George Town residential area suffer sleepless nights due to loading and unloading of Iron and Steel materials and allied industrial activities such as welding etc., in view of the carrying on of the wholesale trade in Iron and Steel materials, as the matter involves Article 21 of the Constitution, this Court took an activist approach in public interest and issued several directions as detailed herein below which this Court would not do in normal circumstances.
3. The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly enacted the Tamil Nadu Act 24 of 1996 namely, the Tamil Nadu Specified Commodities Markets (Regulation of Location) Act, 1996. The object of the Act is to regulate the location of market areas of wholesale markets in respect of specified commodities in Madras Metropolitan area, taking into account the fast growth of population and commercial activities, the congestion and consequential traffic, accommodation and other problems in Madras Metropolitan area. The above said statue was enacted to shift as many commercial activities as possible to other areas to decongest the affected areas in the public interest.
4. In order to achieve the aforesaid objective, market areas are declared under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Act 24 of 1996 for the wholesale trade of the specified commodities and the wholesale trade of the specified commodities should confine to those market areas alone and the Metropolitan city is thus decongested.
5. The aforementioned G.O.Ms.No.62 dated 23.02.1999 is one such Notification issued under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Act 24 of 1996 declaring “Sathangadu Iron and Steel Market Area” to be the market area for Chennai Metropolitan area in respect of iron and steel materials, which is one of the specified commodities under the schedule to the Act as defined in Section 2(13) of the Act.
6. In fact, according to the said Government Order, earlier it was notified that the shifting of the wholesale trade in iron and steels to the new market area was with effect from 01.03.1998. However, considering the request made from the trading communities involved in the wholesale trade in iron and steel, the dead line was extended from 01.03.1998 to 28.02.1999 by the aforesaid Government Order.
7. The first petitioner herein moved the Public Interest Litigation, for a direction to shift the iron and steel market godowns from George Town residential area to Sathangadu as per the Government Order, since the wholesale trade in iron and steel is carried on in the George Town for years together even after the aforesaid Government Order.
8. The second petitioner was impleaded by an order dated 01.07.2008 as he is a permanent resident of the George Town area and he made a grievance that he was seriously affected due to the carrying on of the wholesale trade in iron and steel in the area affecting his normal life.
9. Respondent 7, Housing and Urban Development Department and respondent 8, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (in short CMDA) were impleaded by order dated 011. 2006 and 22.02.2007 respectively. Respondents 9 to 12, the Associations of Wholesale Traders in Iron and Steel, were impleaded suo motu by this Court on 28.02.2008.
10. As per the counter affidavit of CM
