The Madras High Court made an important observation while hearing a case of encroachment on Friday. The court said that if even God encroaches on a public place, the court will order its removal. The court said, “The courts do not care who or in what name the encroachment takes place. We have reached a position that if even God encroaches upon a public place, the courts will direct its removal, Because the public interest and the rule of law must be protected and upheld.”
Justice N. Ananda Venkatesh wrote that there was a time when some individuals had got the impression that they could encroach upon a public place in the name of a temple or by placing an idol. He said that now the courts cannot be deceived by encroaching upon public properties and building temples in the name of God. “We have enough temples and no god has made any appeal for the construction of new temples by encroaching on public places or by building structures in the name of the temple,” the Justice said.
This law fight was going on since 2005
The court made this observation while hearing a petition filed regarding the Palapattrai Mariamman temple located in the Namakkal municipality. The judge found that there was encroachment on the public road through the temple called Mariamman Koil Street. This has deterred the nearby landlords, who were fighting a legal battle since 2005 by filing suit before the Munsif court. For the first time this matter came before a district court.
“‘Fear of God’ was misunderstood”
The Justice was surprised to see that during the litigation before the lower courts, the municipality supported the temple, which is supposed to be the custodian of public roads. The judge said that it is quite unfortunate that the municipality blindly supported the encroachment in the name of the temple. This was probably due to some official who misunderstood ‘fear of God’.