Madras HC orders status quo on building panchayat office on school campus – Times of India

MADURAI: The Madras high court has directed authorities to maintain status quo in a plea which sought to stop construction of a village panchayat office building on a government school campus in Thanjavur district.
The court passed the interim order while hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by N Neelakandan, president of the parents-teachers association of the panchayat union middle school at Ponnavarayankottai village in the district.
The petitioner stated that the panchayat union middle school was constructed in 1957 on the land owned by the panchayat union while the village panchayat office was constructed on the land in 1986. That apart, an anganwadi, library, ration shop and post office were functioning on the same land.
He stated that since the panchayat village panchayat office was in a dilapidated condition, the office was functioning from the library building. The library building was damaged due to cyclone Gaja in 2018 due to which the office was shifted to a different locality.
A division bench of Justices M Duraiswamy and K Murali Shankar ordered status quo to be maintained and sought response from the Thanjavur district administration officials.