Madras High Court quashes Government Order cancelling allotment of Kalaignarin Kanavu Illam houses to Maraimalai Ilakkuvanar and Thilagavathy
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh agreed with senior counsel Rev. Fr. Xavier Arulraj, representing both writers, that another G.O. issued on January 26, 2024, modifying the eligibility criteria for the beneficiaries of the scheme, could be given only prospective and not retrospective effect.
The judge pointed out that the government had introduced the scheme on the 97th birth anniversary of former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi in 2022. It was intended to honour Tamil scholars by allotting houses to those who had received literary awards such as the Jnanpith Award.
Accordingly, a G.O. was issued on November 16, 2022, allotting houses to 10 beneficiaries for 2022-23. The two writ petitioners were among them, and they were allotted houses at Shenoy Nagar and Anna Nagar after their individual preference was ascertained.
However, in January 2024, the government decided that the Tamil scholars who had already owned houses would be ineligible for allotment of houses under the scheme. The decision was given retrospective effect and the allotments made to the petitioners in 2022 were cancelled in March 2024.
Disapproving of the decision, Justice Venkatesh said the 2022 G.O. had stated that the scheme was intended to honour the award received by the scholars and not the awardee per se. When such was the stance, he wondered what forced the government to make a complete reversal in 2024. Even if the government wanted to change its policy, it ought to have been given prospective and not retrospective effect, he concluded.
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