Full Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 25-02-2026
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE V. LAKSHMINARAYANAN
1. Bharathi
W/O.LATE. Hanumanthan, No.11/230, Gandhi road, Paari nagar, Jafferkhanpet, Ashok nagar, Chennai- 600 083. 2.Amulu D/O.LATE. Hanumanthan, No.69, Periya street, Mittapet village and post office, Arakkonam taluk, Ranipet district. 3.Kumari D/O.LATE. Hanumanthan, No.69, Periya street, Mittapet village and post office, Arakkonam taluk, Ranipet district. 4.H.Balaji SO.LATE. Hanumanthan, No.11/230, Gandhi road, Paari nagar, Jafferkhanpet, Ashok nagar, Chennai- 600 083. Petitioner(s) Vs.
1. The Assistant Director
District Town and Country planning office, Office of District Collectorate, Ranipet district, Ranipet 2.The Sub Registrar Arakkonam Sub Registrar Office, Arakkonam Ranipet district. 3.D.Vijayabaskar S/o. Dasarathan, Kainoor Village, Arakkonam Taluk Ranipet district. 4.J.Venkatesan
S/o. Janakiraman, Sreeni A1- 72 , 4th Floor, 5th Street, shanthi Colony, Anna Nagar, Chennai 40 5.T.M.Mani S/o. Munusamy Reddy No. 259 Big Street, S.R.Kandigai, H/o. Minnal Village, Arakkonam Taluk Ranipet district. 6.K.Saravanan S/o. kolakkan, No. 344 Murugan Nagar, Melari Village, Nemili Taluk, Ranipet district. 7.K.Arun S/o. Krishnan, No. 40 Pillaiyar Koil Street, Pudur Kandigai village, Minnal Post, Arakkonam Taluk Ranipet district. Respondent(s) PRAYER To issue a writ of mandamus to direct the 1st respondent to dispose of the petitioners’ petition dated 15.12.2025 within the time fixed by this Hon’ble court pending on the file of the 1st respondent. For Petitioner(s): Mr.P.Krishnan For Respondent(s): M/s.C.Meera Arumugam Agp Takes Notice For R1 Mr. L.S.M. Hasan Fizal Agp Representing Mr.Stalin Abhimanyu Agp Takes Notice For R2 Private Notice To R6 To R7 , Proof Not Filed Vide Usr-4800 Dt-17.02.2026. R-3 D.VIJAYABASKAR S/o. Dasarathan, Kainoor Village, Arakkonam Taluk Ranipet District. R-4 J.VENKATESAN S/o. Janakiraman, Sreeni A1- 72 , 4th Floor, 5th Street, Shanthi Colony, Anna Nagar, Chennai 40 R-5 T.M.MANI S/o. Munusamy Reddy No. 259 Big Street, S.R.Kandigai, H/o. Minnal Village, Arakkonam Taluk Ranipet District. R-6 K.SARAVANAN S/o. Kolakkan, No.
344 Murugan Nagar, Melari Village, Nemili Taluk, Ranipet District. R-7 K.ARUN S/o. Krishnan, No. 40 Pillaiyar Koil Street, Pudur Kandigai Village, Minnal Post, Arakkonam Taluk Ranipet District.
ORDER
The petitioner claims that the property situated in S.F.Nos.32/3 - 24 cents, cents, 32/12 - 28 cents, 32/13 - 25 cents, 32/14 - 50 cents, 32/15 - 16 cents, cents and 36/2 - 13 cents, situated at Mittapet Village, hamlet of Minnal Village, Arakkonam Taluk, Ranipet District, belong to one Krishnamma Chetti @ Kadainti Krishnamma Chetti and his wife. On the death of Krishnamma Chetti, the property devolved on to his legal heirs, namely, Narasimha Chetti, Nagasami Chetti and Sanjeevi Chetti. Subsequently, Sanjeevi Chetti relinquished his share in favour of Narasimha Chetti. Yet again, Narasimha Chetti and Nagasami Chetti divided the property by way of an oral partition, where the property situated in Survey Nos.32/3 and 32/4 were allotted to Nagasami Chetti and the remaining property fell to the share of Narasimha Chetti. 2.Narasimha Chetti passed away on 15.04.1985. His wife pre-deceased him on 25.05.1984. Narasimha Chetti left behind one Hanumanthan and Vedhammal as his legal heirs. Hanumathan died on 24.09.2003 and Vedhammal died on 14.11.2011. The 1st petitioner Bharathi, is the daughter of Vedhammal and Pichandi. She married her maternal uncle Hanumanthan. From the wedlock, they had two children, namely, Amulu and Kumari. They are the petitioners in this writ petition. All the petitioners are said to be physically challenged. 3.It is the claim of the petitioners that the properties which stand in the name of Narasimha Chetti and six others, had been mutated without notice to the petitioners, and patta had been issued in the name of one Purantharan and one Prabhu. The said Purantharan and Prabhu, on the strength of this patta, executed a document, and yet again executed a partition deed allotting the property in favour of Prabhu, who mutated the revenue records in his name. 4.On coming to know that the patta for their property had been mutated without their consent, they objected to the same by way of a petition before the District Revenue Officer, Ranipet District. As the said authority did not take any action, a writ of mandamus in W.P.No.35483 of 2025 was preferred before this Court. This Court directed the District Revenue Officer, Ranipet District, to pass orders within six weeks. It is not in dispute that the proceeding before the District Revenue Officer, Ranipet, has not concluded so far. 5.In the meantime, taking advantage of the mutation of records, the respondents 3 to 7 are said to have obtained DTCP approval from the 1 st respondent for plotting out the land, which belong to the petitioners and others, into a layout. One of the conditions of the layout approval is that, in case any wrong or fraudulent representation had been made at the time of the application, the provisional layout approval is liable to be cancelled. 6.Placing reliance upon the said clause, the petitioners approached the 1 st respondent to pass orders cancelling the layout approval. The 1 st respondent also summoned the respondents 3 to 7 for enquiry, but had not passed final orders. Hence, the petitioners are before this Court seeking a direction to the 1 st respondent to pass final orders post enquiry. 7.On 05.02.2026, I directed Mr.P.Krishnan to serve notice on the private respondents, since any order passed in their absence, might not be in the interest of justice. Notice had been served and their names have been printed. Yet, no counsel, entered appearance on their behalf. 8.Ms.C.Meera Arumugam, has produced the instructions issued by 1st respondent, which is scanned and extracted hereunder:- 9.The petitioners claim a right over the property which is the subject matter of a layout approval. Proceedings are pending before the District Revenue Officer, Ranipet. The District Revenue Officer is operating under a direction of this Court, but still he has not complied with the same. It is up to the petitioners to initiate appropriate action against the inaction of the District Revenue Officer. Insofar as this writ petition is concerned, the petitioners claim that the 1st respondent has not passed any orders. Whereas, the 1 st respondent states that the petitioners have not given any records. 10.Mr.P.Krishnan reports that the entire records have already been submitted. The petitioners would give another copy of the said report within a week from today. On such production, the 1st respondent shall acknowledge the same. When the 1st respondent has reserved with itself the power to cancel the approval in case, there is any fraud, the responsibility falls on her to execute the said duty imposed by that clause. It is up to the 1 st respondent to take a call as to whether the approval has been obtained on the basis of any fraudulent or
wrongful representation. When she is called upon to perform the duty, an order
has to be passed. 11.Hence, this Writ Petition is disposed of with the following directions:- (i)The petitioners shall submit their documents by 04.03.2026; (ii)The 1st respondent shall pass orders by 18.03.2026; (iii)Before passing an order, the 1st respondent shall hear the petitioners or their representatives, and the respondents 3 to 7 or their representatives. (iv)Till the time, the 1st respondent disposes the petition filed by the petitioners on 16.12.2025, the 2nd respondent shall not entertain any document relating to the property covered under the layout approval. No costs. 25-02-2026 krk Index:Yes/No
Speaking/Non-speaking order
Internet:Yes Neutral Citation:Yes/No
To 1.The Assistant Director District Town and Country planning office, Office of District Collectorate, Ranipet district, Ranipet 2.The Sub Registrar Arakkonam Sub Registrar Office, Arakkonam Ranipet district. 3.D.Vijayabaskar S/o. Dasarathan, Kainoor Village, Arakkonam Taluk Ranipet district. 4.J.Venkatesan S/o. Janakiraman, Sreeni A1- 72 , 4th Floor, 5th Street, shanthi Colony, Anna Nagar, Chennai 40 5.T.M.Mani S/o. Munusamy Reddy No. 259 Big Street, S.R.Kandigai, H/o. Minnal Village, Arakkonam Taluk Ranipet district. 6.K.Saravanan S/o. kolakkan, No. 344 Murugan Nagar, Melari Village, Nemili Taluk, Ranipet district. 7.K.Arun S/o. Krishnan, No. 40 Pillaiyar Koil Street, Pudur Kandigai village, Minnal Post, Arakkonam Taluk Ranipet district.
V.LAKSHMINARAYANAN J. krk 25-02-2026