‘Hostels not a place for commercial activities’

A division bench comprising Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subramonimum Prasad on dismissing the petition said, “The government has enacted Tamil Nadu Hostels and Houses for Women and Children Regulation Act, 2014 and Rules have been framed in 2015. Under section 2-B of the Act, women and children can reside in either licensed or registered institution like homes/hostels and lodging houses.”

“The provisions of the Act and the Rules makes it clear that the hostel is a place of residence and hence either licensed or registered homes by any stretch of imagination cannot be said to be a commercial place.” the bench added. The petitioner M Suresh Babu of SIPCOT Housing Colony had submitted that despite a prevailing condition in the allotment letter that the plot issued can only be used for residential accommodation, the condition is being violated by the present owners of the colony.

Noting that a majority of 330 housing plots have been converted to commercial enterprises, the plea said one of the biggest ladies’ hostel in the colony is ‘Akshaya Ladies hostel’, which houses around 150 to 250 inmates and the water supply is from the Municipality, which should not be given for commercial purposes. Also, listing out other ladies’ hostel in the colony and laundry, the plea noted that the garbage collection due to this overcrowding of people in small buildings has led to several civicissues.