Taking a serious view of the construction of a toilet on a waterbody in Theni district, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Collector to conduct an inquiry and recover the entire cost from the officials involved in the illegal construction.
A Division Bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and R. Vijayakumar directed the Collector to complete the exercise in 12 weeks and file a compliance report before the Registrar (Judicial) of the Madurai Bench.
The court was hearing the contempt petition filed by F. Apsana Parveen of Theni district who complained that the panchayat president constructed a toilet on a waterbody in Seelayampatti.
Despite the fact that the court had granted an interim injunction against the panchayat president not to put up the construction on the waterbody, he carried out the activity. Therefore, the present contempt petition was filed, she said.
The State told the court that the construction was removed in its entirety and the authorities would find a suitable place for the construction of the toilet for the benefit of the people of the locality.
The court observed that the construction activity continued when the interim order was in force. The authorities concerned were bound to repay the construction costs already sustained from the public funds. The responsibility was to be fixed in this regard for the purpose of recovery of the costs for the construction of the toilet, which had now been demolished, the court observed and directed the Collector to conduct the inquiry.