HC allows 29.33 acres land from QMEST

Leaving the remaining 10.67 acres with the Trust to carry on the educational institution activities on the said land, a division bench comprising Justice Vineet Kothari and Justice C V Karthikeyan said “The Trust cannot claim as a matter of right the de-reservation of the Reserve Forest area of Survey No.273A in Nanmangalam Reserve Forest in Sholinganallur Taluk in Kancheepuram District.”

“The finding of fact that it had utilised only 10.67 acres of land and 29.33 acres of land was already with the plantation and wild jungle trees and was not developed or utilised for running the educational institution in question is a finding of fact which is binding on the Trust as well as this Court,” the bench said.

Also, noting that the land in question was a part of Reserve Forest has never been in dispute even as per the original allotment order in 1975, the bench said “this Court finds that the benign leniency shown by the State Government in not resuming the remaining part of 10.67 acres of land of the same Reserved Forest cannot be allowed to be misused or abused by allowing the claim of the Trust to exceed any further and claim the whole of 40 acres of land.”

Slamming the Trust for raising unauthorised construction beyond the said area of 10.67 acres, the bench directed it to plant at least 500 new trees within the said area which are suitable as per local conditions, within six months.