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Synopsis

The Madras High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition filed by Murasoli Trust, which is linked with DMK, to bar the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) from probing allegations regarding the Trust's occupation of 12 grounds of Panchami land in Chennai.

The Trust had filed the present petition in 2020 alleging bias by L Murugan, who was the vice-chairman of NCSC in 2019-2020. A complaint was filed in 2019 before NCSC by Dr. R Srinivasan, who was then the State Secretary of BJP, stating that the Trust had purchased a Panchami land (Depressed Class Land) assigned to the Scheduled Caste people and had illegally transferred it in the name of other persons. On this complaint, a notice was issued to the managing trustee of the Trust, asking them to appear in person before the Commission. However, the Trust moved the high court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking a writ of prohibition while alleging political vendetta. 

The bench of Justice SM Subramaniam opined that on receipt of the notice itself, the Trust approached the Constitutional Court for an order to restrain the NCSC from proceeding with the natural course of inquiry, which was "an unnecessary act of haste and was uncalled for".

"All the more, it is not a case of complete lack of jurisdiction or where an inquiry is inconsistent with the principles of natural justice. It is only right by the law to allow the Constitutional Bodies to perform their assigned function within the framework prescribed," court said. 

It noted that there were notes of the District Collector, Chennai on record that showed that since 1912 the contentious land had been classified as Ryotwari and not Panchami, however, it opined that such disputed facts, related to the classification of the land, could be gone into only by the Commission.

Court said that an investigation and an inquiry by the commission was warranted for the purpose of ascertaining the truth regarding the character of the land in safeguarding and protecting the interest of the scheduled caste members and the same could not be decided by the high court under writ jurisdiction. 

"This court is not inclined to scrutinise or consider any of the documents filed either on the side of the petitioner or by the respondents, since the High Court cannot adjudicate disputed facts in the present writ of prohibition. The High Court cannot conduct a roving inquiry to identify the character of an immovable property or the classifications originally made and the developments made subsequently...The High Court in writ proceedings cannot usurp the powers of the commission," the bench stated. 

Accordingly, it directed NCSC to issue fresh notice to the parties in the manner contemplated and by following the Rules of Procedures and asked the Commission to proceed with the inquiry by affording an opportunity to all the parties and pass appropriate orders on merits and in accordance with law.

With these directions, court dismissed the petition filed by the Trust. 

Case Title: Murasoli Trust v National Commission For Scheduled Castes and Others