Plea to allot Panchami lands to beneficiaries
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed Madurai district administration to file a counter affidavit to the public interest litigation petition seeking a direction to the authorities to retrieve Panchami lands to a total extent of 103.33 acres in the district and allot the lands to the Scheduled Caste (Arunthathiyar) people.
A Division Bench of Justices R. Subramanian and L. Victoria Gowri sought response from the authorities to the petition filed by A. Muthupandi of Valayankulam in Madurai district. The petitioner who belongs to a Scheduled Caste is a farmer.
He said that the lands in Thottiyapatti, Valayapatti, M. Puliyankulam, Thoombakulam, Kurayur K Chennampatti, Solanguruni, Ayanpappakudi, Vidathakulam and Silarpatti in Madurai district were originally allotted to the Scheduled Caste (Arunthathiyar) people.
However, most of the lands are under the occupation of persons belonging to dominant intermediate communities. These persons have even been granted the patta fraudulently by suppressing the classification of the lands as Panchami lands. Such occupation of Panchami lands is a criminal offence punishable under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, the petitioner said.
The petitioner said that he had made several representations to the government to identify, retrieve the Panchami lands and to distribute the same to the beneficiaries. However, no steps have been taken. The government is not taking any steps to distribute the Panchami lands to the beneficiaries, he said.
It is the duty of the government to examine each case and wherever they find that the occupant is in wrongful possession of Panchami land as defined under the Act, the authorities have to initiate criminal proceedings. Hundreds of people have already filed their application with the authorities for the allotment of Panchami lands, he said. The court adjourned the hearing in the case by four weeks.
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