Evict SASTRA University, Build Open Air Prisons: DMK President Stalin Urges TN Government

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president M K Stalin has urged the Tamil Nadu government to reclaim the lands allegedly encroached by SASTRA Deemed University in Thanjavur and convert them into open-air prisons.

Stalin backed his statement by questioning the government’s intentions while claiming that the government was okay with demolishing huts and small houses of poor people but was a mute spectator when a large private university built on encroached land. He also asked the government to take immediate action, wondering what made it take so much time and how officials, who granted permission, went unpunished.

“How did the Centre recognise a University that has disregarded laws to construct its building on encroached lands?” he questioned, as reported by The Hindu.

The 58.17 acres of land has been under dispute since 1996. In a split-verdict in September last year by a division bench of Madras High Court, Justice Nooty Ramamohana Rao suggested that the government can assign the land in question after collecting Rs 10 crore from the University.

However, Justice S M Subramaniyam said that no land could be assigned to SASTRA and also directed the state to vacate the encroached property and take possession by 3 October.