HC quashes NCSC order, imposes fine on Dalit man

CHENNAI: The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) can issue orders only when the rights of people belonging to Scheduled Caste are denied, the Madras High Court said.

Hearing a petition related to temple land encroachment by a Scheduled Caste man Srinivasan, who lives in Madepalli, Krishnagiri, a division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy quashed the order issued by the NCSC and directed the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) department to clear the encroachments on the land.

Earlier, Jayaraman, an ex-serviceman, had lodged a complaint with the HR&CE informing that Srinivasan encroached on 3.75 acres of land belonging to the Sakkiamman temple in V Madepalli, Krishnagiri district. On this, HR&CE issued notice to Srinivasan to vacate the temple land.

Assailing this, Srinivasan approached the NCSC against the notice and based on his complaint, the commission ordered that no action should be taken against the notice. Subsequently, plaintiff Jayaraman moved the High Court seeking to quash the order passed by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes in excess of jurisdiction.

During the hearing, the HR&CE department informed that notices were sent to the 11 people who encroached on the temple land and the encroachments could not be removed due to the order of the NCSC. Quashing the NCSC order, the HC directed the HR&CE to clear the encroachments and closed the case by imposing a fine of Rs 1,000 on Srinivasan for concealing the information.

The HC said NCSC can only issue order when rights of people belonging to the Scheduled Caste community are denied