On November 13 2007 the Madras High Court has delivered a hallmark decision by quashing Ordinance 1 of 2007 that sought to provide a one-year amnesty for illegal buildings in Chennai. You will recall that CAG won a landmark case in August 2006 (WP No. 43838 of 2006) when the High Court set up a Monitoring Committee to oversee the implementation of their orders which focused on illegal multistoried commercial buildings in Chennai. The State Government had challenged this order before the Supreme Court in 2006, but did not succeed.
In July 2007, the State Government promulgated an Ordinance to stop any enforcement action for one year arguing that they were looking to make changes to the law and that many of the illegal buildings may no longer be illegal, once such changes are made to the law. CAG had challenged this Ordinance immediately.
The Hon’ble High Court passed orders in CAG's writ petition (WP No. 25913 of 2007) agreeing with us that the State government was trying to overcome the judgement and therefore encroach into judicial powers. The High Court has held that the Ordinance is unconstitutional and has directed the authorities to comply with the order of the Hon’ble High Court in its letter and spirit |
