Madras high court raps Jaya

A division bench of the Madras high court has rapped the Jayalalitha government for granting a granite quarrying lease without the Centre's prior approval.

The bench upheld the single judge's verdict quashing the government order which allowed Golden Granites to quarry in 6.6 acres of reserved forest area at Badanavadi in Ponnagaram taluk of Dharmapuri district.

Comprising Justices A R Lakshmanan and M Karpagavinayagam, the bench passed the order following an appeal filed by the firm against the single judge's verdict.

The first information report in the case was filed by the state crime branch's crime investigation department on March 15. Besides Jayalalitha, the FIR named former industries minister M Chinnasamy, former Tamin chairman A N Dyneshwaran and 13 others in the Rs 700 million granite scam.

The bench said as per Section 2 of the Forest Conservation Act, the Centre's prior approval was mandatory and non-compliance of the same must result in cancellation of the lease.

The bench said it was brought to its notice that the order was passed despite the the principal chief forest conservator's objections.

UNI