Minor reprieve from single judge order, Tambaram school gets 1 year to vacate railway land

A division bench comprising Justice R Subbiah and Justice PD Audikesavulu, on disposing the appeal filed by Christ King Middle School against a single judge’s order directing it to abide by the eviction order passed by the Railways, granted time until April 30, 2019 to vacate.

The railways in 1935 had allotted as much as 43,680 square feet for establishing a middle school to benefit the children of Railway employees on an annual rent of Re 1. Thereafter, the school had put up construction after approval of plans by the then Southern Indian Railway Company Limited. The licence fee originally fixed at Re 1 per annum was periodically increased to Rs 1,000 per annum.

While so, after certain deliberations, the railways passed an order on December 17, 2010, directing the school to vacate and handover the vacant possession of the premises in connection with the proposed project for coaching terminal at Tambaram to accommodate stabling lines and pit lines proposed in Phase-I. Assailing the said order, the school moved the High Court and based on interim stays granted, the school has been functioning since then.

However, on February 13, 2018, Justice S Vaidyanathan on describing the school’s action as non-bonafide directed it to vacate the premises immediately after the end of the academic year, failing which a cost of Rs 2 lakh would be imposed.

Assailing the aforesaid order, the school moved the present appeal along with an undertaking that it would vacate the school by April 30, 2019.

The bench on noting that it is open to the Railways to commence other preliminary works regards coaching terminal, made it clear that no further extension of time will be granted to the school beyond April 30, 2019 to vacate.