V SERVARAN Vs. COLLECTOR TIRUNELVELI DISTRICT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE present writ petition has been filed by the petitioners, V.Servaran and I.Paulraj, seeking issuance of a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus, to call for the records from the respondent in proceedings No.Na.Kaa.No.a8/678/04(C) dated 17.02.2004 and quash the same and consequently direct the respondent to construct the Panchayat Office at Ventrilingapuram Village, Sankarankovil Taluk, Tiruneveli District.

(2.) THE case of the petitioners is that the village Ventrilingapuram is under the Pattataikatti Panchayat, which is having six villages under it. Further, the Ventrilingapuram village is having more population than the other five villages. In Pattataikatti Village, there are 49 houses, in Chanthiragiri Village there are 28 houses, in Thattankulam Village there are 38 houses, in Sarkaraikulam Village, there are 87 houses, in Tharmathoorani Village there are 276 houses and in the petitioners Village namely, Ventrilingapuram Village, there are 488 houses. THErefore, the Rural Development Department has sent proceedings to all the District Collectors and other authorities in proceedings No.Na.Kaa.No.472001/2-1 TA-5/dated 10.09.2003 stating that the Village Panchayat Office would be constructed along with Village Administrative Office. Only based on the said proceedings, the respondent has also sent proceedings to the Block Development Officer, Melaneelithanallur clearly stating that the Panchayat Office has to be constructed along with this V.A.O's Office from the M.L.A's Constituency Development Fund from 2001 to 2002. It is also stated that the V.A.O's Office as well as the Panchayat Revenue Collection Center were constructed in the petitioners' village Ventrilingapuram when there was a dispute regarding construction of V.A.O's Office a Civil Suit was filed, on the file of the Additional District Munsif Court, Sankarankovil in O.A.No.290 of 1996 to restrain the Commissioner of Melaneelithanallur Panchayat Union. However, the suit came to be dismissed on 03.12.2002. As against that an appeal was filed in A.S.No.5 of 2003. THE said appeal came to be dismissed on 03.03.2003. THErefore, it has been mentioned that the petitioners have been taking all steps to see that the construction of V.A.O's Office should take place in the petitioners' village. Since the proceedings dated 10.09.2003 says that the V.A.O's Office as well as the Panchayat Board Office should be constructed in one place, the respondent cannot construct the V.A.O's Office at one place and Panchayat Board Office in another place. Since the action of the respondent is against the proceedings issued by the Department of Rural Development in proceedings No.Na.Kaa.No.472001/2-1 TA-5/ dated 10.09.2003, the present writ petition has been filed, seeking a direction to construct the Panchayat Office at Ventrilingapuram, Sankarankovil Taluk, Tirunelveli District.

(3.) THEREFORE, it was also submitted that the location of Panchayat Office at Thattankulam is decided on the basis of easy accessibility of public from all habitations of that Panchayat but not on the basis of houses located in different villages. Hence, heart of the Panchayat area has been chosen for the construction of Panchayat Office building and further, the construction work has also started and the basic work is also over. In that view of this matter, since the construction work has already started, the present writ petition seeking a different direction will work against the completion of the construction of Village Panchayat Office. On that basis, the learned Additional Government Pleader prayed for dismissal of the same.