Satish K. Agnihotri, J.:— With consent, the writ petition is taken up for final disposal.
2. This writ petition is filed seeking a writ of mandamus directing the first respondent to pass orders on the stay petition filed by the petitioner under Section 10-B of the Tamil Land Encroachment Act, 1905 (for short “the Act”) along with the appeal filed by her on 10 February 2016 under Section 10, ibid.
3. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that as against the notice issued under Section 6 of the Act, the petitioner has preferred an appeal before the District Collector under Section 10 of the Act on 10 February 2016 along with an application for interim stay under the provisions of Section 10-B, ibid. Till date, despite a request given, even the application for interim relief has not been considered by the first respondent. The authorities may demolish the structure at any point of time. Thus, a direction be issued to the appellate authority, viz., the District Collector, Erode, the first respondent, to consider, at least, the application for interim relief, at the earliest.
4. Considering the limited scope of the relief sought by the petitioner, without going into the merits of the case, we direct the first respondent to consider the petitioner's application for interim relief within a period of one week and decide the appeal within the statutory period prescribed under the provisions of law. It is made clear that status quo as obtained today in respect of the property in question shall be maintained for a period of one week.
5. The writ petition stands disposed of with the above direction and observation. Costs made easy. Connected Miscellaneous Petition is closed.
Comments