ESTATE OFFICER DEFENCE ESTATES OFFICE Vs. SIMA PUBLICITIES

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Estate Officer, Defence Estates Office, Madras-1, aggrieved by the order of the learned single Judge dated 13. 7. 2001 made in W. P. No. 10094 of 1991, has filed the above appeal.

(2.) FOR convenience, we shall refer the parties as arrayed in the writ petition.

(3.) ACCORDING to the writ petitioner, they have been carrying on business in hoardings in the city of Madras by taking sites on lease from the Government. One such hoarding has been erected by them at the junction at KM 0/1-2 Mount Poonamallee Road in the left side near Nehru Statue on the Madras GST Road. The lease of the site, where the hoarding has been put up, was granted to them by the Divisional Engineer, Highways and Rural Works, Saidapet Division, Madras-6, in his letter No. 3482/82 (CRS) B6 dated 18. 01. 1989 under the provisions of G. O. No. 908 PWD dated 21. 06. 1976. The lease was subsequently renewed for the period from 18. 01. 1990 to 17. 01. 1991 and the petitioner paid the necessary rent. While so, the first respondent-Estate Officer instituted the proceedings under sub-section (1) of Section 5-B of the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971 and amended by Acts of 1980 and 1984 on 10. 01. 1990 under the pretext that they are the owners of the land and the petitioner is an unauthorised occupant and hence the Estate Officer passed an order directing demolition of the hoarding on 23. 03. 1990.