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Diocese of Tanjore Society School gets relief from Madras HC
The present dispute started about 5 decades ago when the Diocese of Tanjore Society had established their school and orphanage in the area. ‘Diocese’ stands for the district which is under the jurisdiction of the Bishop. Tanjore now known as the Thanjavur is a city in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
Back in 1970 the Bishop of Tanjore took steps to initiate the establishment of a school and orphanage in the district to help improve literacy and to provide a shelter to the orphans. He did not have adequate land to establish a compound and hence he approached the state government and demanded them to give him the land free of cost to establish a school and orphanage for the needy.
The State government in the Punasaval Village, Pattukkotai taluk, Thanjavur allotted the Bishop of Thanjavur and the President of Tanjore Society a piece of land admeasuring 9.45 acres free of cost to establish the required school and orphanage. Soon after the allotment the construction began and a school was ready in 1970 itself followed by an orphanage in 1971.
Since the land was very big, about 4.55 acres of land was used for the construction of the buildings and the rest was compounded by coconut trees and used as a playground for the school students.
About 13 years back from today the authorities questioned the non-usage of the 4.75 acres of the land which was used only as a playground. They contended that the land was being used ony for the coconut trees planted on it and was being utilized as a thoppu only. The authorities then issued a show cause notice asking the school as to why the remaining land of 4.75 acres should not be repossessed by the state government.
The matter was then brought before the Madras High Court wherein Senior Counsel S. V. Jayaraman advocate for the petitioner contended that there are about 2,000 students in the school ad if the land is taken back a lot of students would be affected by this act. He further contended that the left out land was being used as a playground for the school.
To this contention of the petitioner, Mr. J. Ramesh the additional government pleader said that the adjoining land was being used as a coconut thoppu only. He further said that the land should have been used for the construction of buildings as was described in the 1971 Government Order. But since the land is not being so used it is in clear violation of the terms and conditions of the Government Order and hence the land should be repossessed by the government.
The Court heard the contentions of both the sides carefully and came to the conclusion that there is no dispute in the usage of the 4.55 acres of land. The only dispute is behind the usage of the 4.75 acres of the land which is being used as the school playground. The judge further held that on hearing the arguments of the petitioners it appears that the land is being used by the students as a playground.
If the land will be taken away from the remote village school then there would be no place for the students to play. Hence, the court was inclined to hold that the land which is being used by the school as playground is well in use. Also, the land is used for the school purposes only this means that it does not violate any provisions of the government order issued in 1971.
Thus the court ordered that there must be a fresh consideration of the matter by the state government. Also, the order authorizing the government to take back the land is set aside and hence the relief is granted to the school and orphanage of Tanjore Village.
