Plea against barbed wire fencing for well dismissed

“Just because allegations have been made against an individual, mandamus directing the authorities to protect the well by covering it with protective barbed wire cannot be granted,” a division bench comprising Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subramonium Prasad, held while dismissing the plea.

The petitioner S Sivakumar, a practicing lawyer at the Madras High Court, had submitted that one Rajeswari in the area is constructing a building near the well in Purisai village and as there is no source of water for construction, her father who is supervising the construction, is stealing water from the Panchayat well through a motor.

On a complaint, Panchayat officials removed the electric motor set. But the Inspector, Peramanallur Police Station, intervened and on abusing the petitioner’s relatives and on threatening the Panchayat officials illegally snatched the electric motor and returned it to the person who was using it to rob the water.

Based on his complaints to the authorities failing to evoke any response, he sought the court to direct the Tiruvannamalai District Collector and Block Development Officer of Anakkavoor, to protect the Panchayat well by covering it with barbed wire to prevent miscreants from drawing water and ensure usage of well by the villagers without any hindrance or blockage of the pathway to the well.

However, the bench while dismissing the plea said, “If the inspector of police had threatened the petitioner’s mother or his relatives, it is always open to him to pursue the remedy before the higher authorities or the concerned court in the manner known to law.”