CHENNAI: The Madras High Court directed the State to file a counter to a petition seeking to restrain private construction in the lands allotted to Scheduled Caste (SC) community for the betterment of their life.

Petitioner Gauthama Siddharthan moved a petition before the High Court seeking to allocate the lands earmarked by the Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housing and Development Corporation (TAHDCO) to the SC community people in Erode.

The case was listed before a vacation bench of Justice AD Jagadish Chandira and Justice R Kalaimathi. After perusal of the petition, the bench directed the State to file a counter to the petition and posted the matter after four weeks.

The petitioner submitted that in 2003 TAHDCO earmarked 150 acres of land in Ingur, Erode to establish Knitwear industries for the betterment of the SC community people.

TAHDCO paid Rs.203 crore to Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) to lease out the land for 99 years, said the petitioner.

However, no steps were taken to establish the knitwear industries for the last 20 years, in the meantime TIDCO gave the possession of the land to three private individuals without any notification, said the petitioner.

Challenging this the petitioner sought HC to allocate the land back to the SC community people.