Encroachment actions on classified forest land must adhere to procedural fairness, allowing affected parties to present their case before eviction.

ORDER :

M. SUNDAR, J.

This order will now govern the captioned 'writ petition' (hereinafter 'WP' for the sake of brevity) and captioned writ miscellaneous petition (hereinafter 'WMP' for the sake of brevity) thereat.

2. Mr. A. Navaneethakrishnan, learned Senior Counsel instructed by Mr. R.S. Anandan, learned counsel on record for writ petitioner and Dr.T.Seenivasan, learned Special Government Pleader (Forest) for R4 and R5, Mr.M.S. Arasakumar, learned Government Advocate for R1, R2, R3 and R6, Mr.T.Chandrasekaran, learned Special Government Pleader for R7 are before us.

3. Before we proceed further, considering the nature of the submissions made today, we deem it appropriate to implead the Assistant Engineer (Operation and Maintenance), Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited, Chennai EDC/North, Madhavaram, Madharpakkam, Chennai as R8 in captioned WP.

4. Issue notice to R8. Mr. L. Jai Venkatesh, learned Standing Counsel, accepts notice for R8.

5. Captioned main writ petition was taken up with the consent of the learned counsel on both sides.

6. We find that the 'impugned notice' i.e., notice dated 08.02.2025 issued by R5 (Forest Range Officer, Gummidipoondi Forest Range, Madarpakkam Village & Post) refers to an order dated 07.02.2024 (made by Madras High Court). Learned Special Government Pleader (Forest), in all fairness, submitted that correct reference is dated 31.08.2023 in W.P.No.25714 of 2023. We deem it appropriate to extract and reproduce the 31.08.2023 order in W.P.No.25714 of 2023 and the same is as follows :

'IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

DATED: 31.08.2023

CORAM :

THE HON-BLE MR.JUSTICE S.VAIDYANATHAN

AND

THE HON-BLE MR.JUSTICE K.RAJASEKAR

W.P.No.25714 of 2023

K.Yougandhar .. Petitioner

Vs.

1.The District Collector, Thiruvallur District~601 201.

2.The Sub Collector, Ponneri Post and Taluk, Thiruvallur District~601 201.

3.The District Forest Officer (DFO), Thiruvallur District~601 201.

4.The Tashildar, Gummidipoondi Taluk, Thiruvallur District~601 201.

5.The Divisional Engineer, Electricity Department, Ponneri Post and Taluk, Thiruvalur District~601 201.

6.The Block Development Officer (BDO), Gummidipoondi Union and Taluk, Thiruvallur District~601 201.

7.M.Babu

8.M.Somu

9.M.S.Mohan

10.M.Dasaratha Raju

11.K.Madhava Raju

12.N.Bala Raju

13.N.Subramaniam Raju

14.M.Ramachandra Raju

15.K.Mohan Raju

16.M.Narasa Raju

17.G.Subramaniam Yadhav

18.K.O.Mani 19.K.Eswari

20.K.O.Subramaniam Raju

21.K.O.Jaya Kumar

22.K.Mani

23.K.Venkata Rama Raju

24.M.Chandar Raju

25.K.Ramakrishnamma Raju

26.N.Dhananjay Raju

27.K.P.Chengal Raju

28.K.P.Poorana Chandar Raju

29.M.Shankar Raju

30.K.Babu s/o K.Krishnamma Raju

31.M.Mageswar Raju

32.K.Sobha

33.K.P.Mani

34.Ramya

35.R.Mohan

36.D.Yuva Kumar

37.D.Vekataram Raju

38.K.Babu s/o K.Chengal Raju .. Respondents

Prayer: Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the respondents 1 to 6 to remove the encroachments in S.No.101/3, Melapakkam Village, Eguvarpalayam Post, Gummidipoondi Taluk, Thiruvallur District, put up by respondents 7 to 38 and take appropriate action against them for felling the trees and encroaching the forest land.

For the Petitioner Mr.R.Udhaya Kumar

For the Respondents Mr.P..Muthukumar State Government Pleader for respondent Nos.1 to 6

ORDER

(Order of the court was made by S.Vaidyanathan, J.)

The present writ petition has been filed by the petitioner for issuance of a writ of mandamus to direct respondents 1 to 6 to remove the encroachments made by respondents 7 to 38 in S.No.101/3 situated at Melapakkam Village, Gummidipoondi Taluk.

2. Since we are not passing any adverse order against respondent Nos.7 to 38 in the present writ petition, notice to respondent Nos.7 to 38 is dispensed with.

3. It is submitted on behalf of the petitioner that though steps have been initiated to remove the encroachments made in the forest land in Survey No.101/3 as early as October, 2020 by issuance of eviction notice under Section 68A of the Tamil Nadu Forest Act, 1882 , th