Madras HC orders eviction of SASTRA from 31 acres of govt land

Madras High Court Orders Eviction of SASTRA University from Government Land

The Madras High Court directed the State government to evict Shanmuga Arts, Science, Technology and Research Academy (SASTRA) from 31.37 acres of government land in Thanjavur. The university has occupied this land for nearly 40 years.

The Third Division Bench, consisting of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and C. Kumarappan, stated that the Thanjavur Collector could seek police assistance to evict the institution. This action must be completed within four weeks.

The court issued this order while dismissing two writ petitions filed by SASTRA in 2022. These petitions challenged a Government Order (G.O.) from February 23, 2022, which refused to assign the government land to the university in exchange for other lands offered by it.

The Division Bench noted that the government has the absolute discretion to accept or reject alternative land offers from encroachers. They stated, “Assignment of an encroached land cannot be claimed as an absolute right by the encroachers.”

After hearing the government’s claim for the land to establish a prison, the judges remarked that SASTRA had not shown any legal right to sustain its request. Justice Subramaniam added that the university had repeatedly litigated the same issues for about 30 years, prolonging the legal disputes.

The Bench highlighted that the current writ petitions, challenging the G.O. and a Tahsildar’s order to evict the property, have been pending for three years. They noted, “The government is unable to implement a public purpose project for the past more than three decades on account of continuous litigations raised by the writ petitioner.”

The court ruled that the institution could not claim equal treatment just because the government had assigned public lands to other institutions in the past.

SASTRA informed the court that it owns 32 acres of private land opposite its Thirumalaisamudram campus, which has direct access to the national highway. It also owns another 36.16 acres adjacent to its campus, with direct access from the national highway. Additionally, the university has 86.80 acres of agricultural land in Thatchankurichi village, equipped with amenities like power and a borewell. The institution offered any of these properties in exchange for the 31.37 acres of government land and agreed to pay the difference in value. However, the government rejected this offer.