The court affirmed that public constructions cannot infringe upon a property owner’s right to reasonable access, balancing public necessity with private property rights.

ORDER

(1)With the consent of the learned counsels on either side, the main writ petition is taken up for final disposal.

(2)The writ petition is filed challenging the impugned letter dated 14.03.2025, to quash the same and to further direct the respondents to remove the bus shed constructed in front of the petitioner's house plot No.4, in S.No.140/ 7A1A at Cuddalore-Thirukkovilur-Anaikkattu Road, Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Nagar, Cuddalore District.

(3)The petitioner purchased the subject plot measuring 1653 sq.ft., under the registered Sale Deed dated 23.03.2022. The petitioner further states that the Assistant Director of Town and Country Planning, Cuddalore, in his proceedings dated 28.06.2019, on payment of necessary charges, approved the layout regularisation for the petitioner's plot along with plot Nos.1 to 3 and 6 to 8 in the said Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam Nagar. The petitioner decided to construct a house in his aforesaid vacant plot by availing loan. However, when the petitioner visited his plot on 04.03.2025, he was shocked to notice that the respondents were constructing the new bus shelter in front of his plot, blocking the ingress and egress to his plot from the Highway. The petitioner, therefore submitted a representation to the respondents 3 and 4 and to the 1st respondent on 08.03.2025 and 10.03.2025 respectively. In the said representations, the petitioner requested the respondents to forthwith stop the construction of the bus shelter in front of his plot. The 3rd respondent however, on 14.03.2025, by the impugned letter, rejected the petitioner's representations. Aggrieved by the impugned letter, the petitioner has filed the above writ petition for the aforesaid relief.

(4)The 2nd respondent filed a detailed counter affidavit on behalf of all the respondents in support of the impugned letter. The crux of the 2nd respondent's counter is that the petitioner was very much aware that there existed a bus shelter in front of his plot. The respondents further stated that the new bus shelter under construction was made in the very same place where the old bus shelter existed. The respondents stated that a pathway of 6 feet was left in front of the petitioner's plot to enable the petitioner to access his land from the State Highway. The respondents further submitted that as the existing bus shelter at Thiruvanthipuram – Palur Highway Road, Otteri Village, was in dilapidated condition, in the interest of the public, the same was demolished after getting administrative sanction on 27.12.2024, from the District Collector, for construction of the new bus shelter at the cost of Rs.9 lakhs. The respondents further submitted that there were no merits in the writ petition and the same deserved to be dismissed.

(5)Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that an illusory extent of only 6 feet for ingress and egress to the petitioner's plot. Learned counsel further contended that the petitioner, with a mere 6 feet frontage to his plot, is effectively precluded from constructing a dwelling house, as no sanctioning authority would grant approval for such a plan. The learned counsel therefore submitted that as the construction of the bus shelter interfered with the petitioner's right to enjoyment of his property, the writ petition should be allowed and the bus shelter should be removed.

(6)The learned Additional Advocate General appearing for the respondents submitted that the bus shelter was constructed in the interest of the general public and that, when public interest is pitted against vested interest, public interest should prevail. Learned Additional Advocate General further submitted that the bus