IMPORTANT POINT
The court established that eviction proceedings must adhere to principles of natural justice, allowing encroachers to present objections before any coercive action is taken.

ORDER :

(M. Sundar, J.) :

(Prayer in W.P. No.21018 of 2024: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of The Constitution of India praying to issue a Writ of Mandamus forbearing the respondents from taking any coercive action on the petitioner's house situated at 7A 170A 19, East Main Road, Mettur Dam, Salem District until the first respondent pass appropriate orders after giving personal hearing to the petitioner on the appeal dated 19.07.2024 along with interim application filed thereon under Section 10(a) and 10-B of Tamil Nadu Land Encroachment Act, 1905.

Prayer in W.P. No.21022 of 2024: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of The Constitution of India praying to issue a Writ of Mandamus forbearing the respondents from taking any coercive action on the petitioner's house situated at 7A/70 ABA, East Main Road, Mettur Dam, Mettur Taluk, Salem District – 636 401 until the first respondent pass appropriate orders after giving personal hearing to the petitioner on the appeal dated 19.07.2024 along with interim application filed thereon under Section 10(a) and 10-B of Tamil Nadu Land Encroachment Act, 1905.

Prayer in W.P. No.21027 of 2024: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of The Constitution of India praying to issue a Writ of Mandamus forbearing the respondents from taking any coercive action on the petitioner's house situated at Door No.151, East Main Road, Mettur Dam - 1, Salem District until the first respondent pass appropriate orders after giving personal hearing to the petitioner on the appeal dated 19.07.2024 along with interim application filed thereon under Section 10(a) and 10-B of Tamil Nadu Land Encroachment Act, 1905.)

In the captioned three main 'Writ Petitions' ('WPs' in plural and 'WP' in singular for the sake of brevity) most of the facts are common.

2. In 'W.P. No.21018 of 2024' (hereinafter 'I WP' - Vijayalakshmi is the writ petitioner), writ petitioner is concerned with Door Nos. 7A, 170A, 19, East Main Road, Mettur Dam, Salem District - 636 401.

3. In 'W.P. No.21022 of 2024' (hereinafter 'II WP' - Thilakamani is the writ petitioner), writ petitioner is concerned with Door No. 7A/70 ABA, East Main Road, Mettur Dam, Salem District - 636 401.

4. In 'W.P. No.21027 of 2024' (hereinafter 'III WP' - Mullaiventhan is the writ petitioner), writ petitioner is concerned with Door No.151, East Main Road, Mettur Dam - 1, Salem District - 636 401.

5. Common facts are that the writ petitioners were visited with separate notices (with the exception of W.P.No.21022 of 2024 wherein writ petitioner is Ms.Thilakamani, Wife of Mr.Mahendran and noticee is Mr.Mahendran) issued by R3 (The Assistant Engineer, Water Resources Department, Civil Section, Mettur Dam – 1, Salem District – 636 401) alleging encroachment in odai land and calling upon the noticees to remove the encroachment. This notice from R3 contains a enclosure which says it is Form III under Rule 6(1) but it does not mention the title of the Rules. We deem it appropriate to extract and reproduce these 23.11.2023 notices and the annexures in all three WPs.

Impugned notice in I WP (W.P.No.21018 of 2024):

Annexure in I WP (W.P.No.21018 of 2024):

Impugned notice in II WP (W.P.No.21022 of 2024):

Annexure in II WP (W.P.No.21022 of 2024):

Impugned notice in III WP (W.P.No.21027 of 2024):

Annexure in III WP (W.P.No.21027 of 2024):

6. Assailing aforementioned 23.11.2023 notices with annexures, writ petitioners have filed appeals with prayers for interim stay under Sections 10 and 10-B respectively of the said 1905 Act and these appeals have been filed with R1 (District Collector, Salem District).

7. Captioned WPs have been filed with prayers qua these appeals i.e., seeking R1 to pass orders in the appeals and stay petitions. To be noted, the appeals and stay petitions are dated 19.07.2024 and the appeals and stay petitions have been filed with R1 on the same day i.e., 19.07.2024.

8. Learned counsel for writ petitioners notwithstanding very many grounds raised in the writ support