The Madras High Court has imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 on the petitioner and dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a direction on the respondent authorities to remove the encroachment in a waterbody of Salaipudhur Village, Coimbatore.
According to the PIL filed by one M. Gurusamy, the encroachment is said to have been made by a private limited company by erecting an electric pole to lay the electricity line for supply of electricity.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice N. Mala held that the photographs on record do not show encroachment, but existence of electric poles in the waterbody. The erection of pole is by the contractor as per the direction given by the Electricity Board.
The Court further found that the erection is not recent, but was made a few years back.
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Therefore the Court observed that the PIL, at times, is filed to settle the private score with other agency and the present petition seems to be of the same nature. The photographs do not show encroachment on the waterbody, rather they show existence of electric poles in the waterbody. The photograph further shows existence of High Tension line for supply of electricity, noted the Court.
Taking the overall facts into consideration, the Bench did not find the petition to be bona fide and the same was dismissed with costs assessed at Rs 10,000 to be deposited by the petitioner with the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority within 15 days.
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The Registrar (Judicial) would ensure the compliance of the said direction and if it is not made, the disposed of writ petition may be listed before the Court for appropriate order for compliance, the Court directed.