The court emphasized the power of the respondents to enter the land for public welfare under the provisions of the Electricity Act 2003 and the Indian Telegraphic Act 1885, highlighting the petitioner's right to receive compensation for the damage caused.

The short facts of the case are as follows:-

1. The writ petitioner is the absolute owner of the land bearing Survey No.55/11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 1A, 1B, 1C, 4A, 5B, 6, 7A, 7B, 7C, 8A, 8C, 9A, 9B at Aananandhal Village, Madurampattu Post, Tiruvannamalai District, totally measuring to an extent of 5 acres of agricultural land. All revenue documents with respect of the aforesaid lands stand in his name. He is cultivating the aforesaid land for the past four decades and he has erected bore well as well as dug a well for irrigation purpose. Income from the agriculture is the only source of income to him to lead his life. The petitioner has planted sugarcane crops in the above said land and he had erected saplings of 300 rose wood, 400 red-sandal, in the year 2008 and 15 mango trees, 90 teak wood trees and they are aged about 20 years old. He further submits that the land is a good fertile land and yields well. Approximately 300 tones of sugarcane are being cultivated every year since 1990. When such are the facts, in the year 2010, the respondents had given proposal that they are going to erect high voltage electricity grid in his property. Initially he had objected the same as the authority wanted his agricultural land which is very good cultivating land, but all his efforts to stop them went in vain as the enforcement authority also joined along with the respondents. Finally the respondent had ruined the sugarcane which was about 7 months yield and that would have yielded well in couple of months. Not stopping their activity and under the guise of enforcing the authority vested on them, the respondents had cut all the valuable trees which are aged about 20 years for erecting the high voltage grid in his land. On account of the aforesaid erection, he had faced huge loss and mental agony and most of his valuable land as well as the trees have been spoiled by the respondents on account of their cruel and arbitrary acts.

2. The petitioner further submits that the respondents have already taken his lands and erected the big grid in his land and the remaining land is being used by him for cultivating crops. It has taken much pain for him to come out of the damage caused by the respondents both mentally as well as physically. He further submits that he has already suffered loss by the respondents' project and his entire agriculture activity was paralyzed on account of the act of the respondent by erecting the high voltage grid. While that being so, on 02.06.2014, all of a sudden, the respondents once again entered into his lands which had not been demanded by them earlier and tried to dig the land without any notification or prior notice. The same was prevented by the village people as the respondents had entered his land illegally. The State and its authorities cannot take law in their hands and deprive poor village people and the agriculturist of their hard earned lands and cannot spoil the land and the crops planted on it. He further submits that on enquiry with the respondents, the third respondent has replied that the existing Grid which they have already installed was wrongly erected by them on account of which they are facing some action and therefore, they are unauthorizedly encroaching and intruding on his lands for erecting the new Grid and as such, the work is being carried by them without any notice to him or without any sanction or authority.

3. The petitioner further submits that his property has already suffered a lot on account of installation of existing Grid and after the above said process of the respondents, he has done reclamation of the remaining land after spending several lakhs and cultivating the same. While so all of a sudden on 02.06.2014, the second and third respondents without any notice threatened him to vacate the land immediately under the guise of erecting new Grid. The act of the respondent in unauthorizedly trespassing into his lands without any notice is illegal and unconstitutional. The righ