1 BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT DATED: 15.11.2011 CORAM: THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE K.N.BASHA AND THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE M.VENUGOPAL Writ Petitioner (MD)No.12954 of 2011 V.Murugan ... Petitioner Vs. 1.The District Collector, Collectorate Building, Madurai District, Madurai. 2.The Revenue Divisional Officer, Collectorate Building, Madurai District, Madurai. 3.The Tahsildar,Melur, Madurai District. 4.The Panchayat President, Therkkutheru Panchayat, Melur Taluk, Madurai District. ... Respondents Writ Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying for issuance of a writ of mandamus forbearing the respondent from permitting any person from cremating or burying any corpus in S.No.9/1D, situated in Therkkutheru Villge, Melur Taluk,Madurai District. For Petitioner : Mr.R.Vijayakumar For Respondents 1 to 3 : Mr.S.Chandrasekaran,Govt.Advocate. For Respondent-4 : Mr.K.Mahendran, Spl.Govt.Pleader. O R D E R [Order of the Court was made BY K.N.BASHA, J] Mr.S.Chandrasekaran, learned Government Advocate, takes notice for respondents 1 to 3. Mr.K.Mahendran, learned Special Government Pleader, takes notice for respondent No.4. By mutual consent of the learned counsel for the parties, the main writ petition itself is taken up for final hearing at the time of admission itself. 2.The petitioner has come forward with this writ petition seeking for a direction, forbearing the respondents from permitting any person from cremating or burying any corpus in S.No.9/1D, situated in Therkkutheru Villge, Melur Taluk, Madurai District. 3.Learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that the petitioner is a resident of Chinna Sooragundu Nagalingapuram, Therkkutheru Village, Melur Taluk, Madurai District, and he has come forward with this public interest litigation. It is submitted that in the said village, all the people belonging to different castes, creed and community are unitedly residing and they are using the land in Survey No.354/1 of the said village as cremation ground for many decades. It is further submitted that the petitioner and the other villagers are using the bunds in agricultural fields as approach way to the said cremation ground. It is further submitted that Survey No.352/1 is notified as cremation ground of the 4th respondent Panchayat. Learned counsel for the petitioner would content that a News Item appeared in a Tamil Daily News Paper on 11.02.2010, regarding the problem faced by people of one community as they do not have any proper pathway to approach the said cremation ground, based on which it seems that the authorities have allotted the land in Survey No.9/1D to be used as burial ground instead of Survey No.352/1. According to the https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ 2 petitioner, it is not so. It is submitted that some anti-social elements, with a view to create rift among the villagers, buried the corpus of one Sonai, who does not belong to the said village, during midnight hours on 31.08.2011 in Survey No.9-1D, which prompted the petitioner to report before the revenue authorities and also all the villagers made a representation, dated 09.09.2011, to the respondents herein about the cremation said to have taken place on 31.08.2011 in S.No.9/1D and till date no action was taken and as such the petitioner has been constrained to approach this Court with this writ petition with the aforesaid prayer. 4.Heard the learned Government Advocate appearing for respondents 1 to 3 and the learned Special Government Pleader appearing for Respondent No.4 on the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner. 5.We have carefully considered the submissions by both sides and also perused the affidavit filed in support of the petition and also other materials produced before this Court. 6.The fact remains that the petitioner and the villagers have some apprehension regarding the use of new burial ground, namely in S.No.9/1D. Though the petitioner has come forward with a larger prayer, this Court cannot grant such a relief by giving a positive directions to the respondents, as we are of the view that an opportunity should be afforded to other side, who are alleged to have buried a corpus of some person, in the disputed burial ground. Therefore, without going into the merits of the representation given by the petitioner and other villagers, dated 09.09.2011, and without expressing any view in respect of that representation, this Court is constrained to direct the 1st respondent, the District Collector, Madurai District, to consider the representation, dated 09.09.2011, preferred by the petitioner and other villagers, by affording an opportunity to the petitioner, who is representing the villagers, and other relevant parties, including the parties who are said to have buried a corpus in S.No.9/1D, which created apprehension and problem, and pass orders on merits and in accordance with law, within a period of twelve weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. 7.With the above direction, the writ petition stands disposed of. No costs. SD ASST REGISTRAR ( AS ) /TRUE COPY/ gb SUB ASST REGISTRAR To: 1.The District Collector, Collectorate Building, Madurai District, Madurai. 2.The Revenue Divisional Officer, Collectorate Building, Madurai District, Madurai. 3.The Tahsildar, Melur, Madurai District. 4.The Panchayat President, Therkkutheru Panchayat, Melur Taluk, Madurai District. 1CC TO MR. R. VIJAYAKUMAR, ADVOCATE,SR: 39701: DM::2011:NOVEMBER:16:: ORDER IN WP(MD)No.12954 of 2011 2P:6C:: Dated:15.11.2011 https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/