MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to construct a men's hostel for the Government Law College in Tiruchy within a year.
A bench of justices G Jayachandran and KK Ramakrishnan gave the direction while allowing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by K Purushothaman, a third year student, in 2018.
Purushothaman stated in his petition that the college had 1,400 students, half of whom were male. But the college only had a hostel for women students and male students had to find private accommodation.
Since most of the students were from rural areas and from socially and economically weaker sections, they had to live in congested rooms which cost at least Rs 4,000 per month (excluding food) or choose to travel from their hometown everyday, he had stated.
Though authorities, while responding to his representation in March 2018, had informed that Rs 84 lakh has been allotted for building the hostel on a 7,700 square metre land at Abhishekam village that was earmarked for the purpose in 2007, no further steps were taken, he alleged and approached the court.
Another petition was filed in 2018 by a private company, which was the original owner of the land before it was taken over by the government after the enactment of the Tamil Nadu Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1978, under which excess vacant lands were handed over to the government.
Hearing both petitions recently, the division bench rejected the company’s claim and dismissed their petition. They then allowed Purushothaman’s petition by saying, “The government is at liberty to proceed with the construction of the Government Law College Hostel in the subject premises. The said construction shall be completed within a period of one year.”
