The Madras High Court on Tuesday dismissed a writ petition filed by the Agri-Horticultural Society claiming title over four cawnies (each cawny measures 1.322 acres approximately), 18 grounds and 1,683 square feet of land next to Semmozhi Poonga on Cathedral Road in Chennai. The property is believed to be worth over ₹500 crore.
Justice S.M. Subramaniam refused to quash the Land Administration Commissioner’s June 5, 2023 order setting aside the Chennai Collector’s 2011 proceedings for grant of ‘patta’ to the society with respect to the lands in question by recognising them as private lands and not government property.
The judge agreed with Additional Advocate General J. Ravindran and senior counsel P. Wilson, for impleading petitioner Y. Bhuvanesh Kumar, that the society must prove its title, if any, by approaching the civil court concerned and not by invoking the writ jurisdiction of the High Court.
