District Collector must decide water-body encroachment appeals within eight weeks after hearing affected parties.

The petitioner sought a writ of mandamus directing the relevant government committees to remove the alleged encroachment by the tenth respondent, C.S.I. St. Stephen Church, on land said to form part of a water body in T.S. Nos. 38 and 39, Konnur Village, Chennai.

The State submitted that the encroachers had filed an appeal under Section 10 of the Tamil Nadu Land Encroachment Act, 1905, which was pending before the District Collector, Chennai.

Whether the Court should direct removal of the alleged encroachment while the statutory appeal concerning it remained pending before the District Collector.

Whether the District Collector should be directed to determine the appeal, after hearing the parties, within a specified period.

Section 10 of the Tamil Nadu Land Encroachment Act, 1905, provides the statutory appeal invoked by the encroachers; the Court directed that this pending appeal be decided after affording an opportunity to all parties.

The Court also stated that encroachments in water bodies should not be permitted and observed that such encroachments contribute to flooding during Chennai’s rainy season.

Because the encroachers had already invoked the statutory appeal process, the Court directed the District Collector to decide that appeal rather than grant the requested removal relief at that stage.

Given the allegation that the land was a water body, the Collector was expected to expedite the enquiry, hear all parties, and conclude the appeal within eight weeks.

It did not itself determine whether the land was a water body or whether an encroachment had occurred.

No costs were ordered, and any connected miscellaneous petitions were closed.