The Madras High Court has frowned upon the practice, followed by the State government and its arms such as the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) and local bodies, of regularising unauthorised constructions in a routine manner.

A Division Bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and K. Rajasekar said that such a lenient and casual approach towards regularisation of unauthorised structures emboldened the non law-abiding individuals to intentionally deviate from approved construction plans.

“The government is not expected to regularise unauthorised buildings in a routine manner by invoking the provisions of exemption under the Town and Country Planning Act. The very purpose and object of building plan permission at no circumstance be allowed to be defeated,” the Bench wrote.

The judges wondered how the authorities on the one hand insisted on obtaining building plan approval before commencing construction, and on the other hand continued to entertain applications for regularisation of unauthorised constructions “thereby, legalising an illegal act.”

Authoring the verdict, Justice Subramaniam wrote: “Illegal constructions not only cause environmental damages but also pose a threat to the safety and security of neighbours. Road-users too suffer on account of such illegal constructions. The government is not expected to be a mute spectator in respect of illegal constructions, which cause great inconvenience to people residing in a locality.” Observing that the enforcement authorities must take action against unauthorised constructions on receipt of complaint from any person, the Bench said, no misplaced sympathy could be shown by the courts in such cases merely because the building plan violators had invested huge amount of money.

The observations were made while dismissing a writ petition filed by Bengaluru-based Janpriya Builders. The petitioner had been granted permission in 1990 to construct a commercial building with basement, ground floor, mezanine and three more floors at Sir Thyagaraya Road in Pondy Bazar, T. Nagar, Chennai.

However, the builder ended up constructing basement, ground plus eight floors and put up part constructions on the ninth and tenth floors. Its first application for regularisation of the additional construction was rejected in 2007, and the second one was rejected in 2014. In 2023, CMDA initiated action for removal of the unauthorised constructions, and hence the present writ petition. The judges directed the CMDA and the Greater Chennai Corporation to demolish the unauthorised structures put up by the petitioner within eight weeks.