State must acquire Kodanad estate land for converting a private road into a public road: PIL in HC

A resident of Kodanad in Kothagiri taluk of the Nilgiris district has filed a public interest litigation petition in the Madras High Court seeking a direction to the Collector to acquire certain lands from the management of Kodanad Estate, owned by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa during her lifetime, for use as a public road to access two hamlets located behind the estate.

The plea has been listed for hearing before the first Division Bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan on Monday (November 16, 2026). P. Ganesan, 61, a farmer from the hamlets named Anna Nagar and Kamaraj Nagar had filed the case urging the district administraton to acquire the lands required for converting the 2.5 km long private road into a public road.

The petitioner said the Kodanad Estate management had permitted the inhabitants of the two hamlets to pass through the estate for many years by imposing restrictions such as obtaining permission from the Estate manager and upon payment of a nominal fee towards toll charges. Only those possessing a gate pass were allowed to use the private road during daytime.

The gates on both ends of the road get closed after 6 p.m. every day, making it difficult for inhabitants to commute. In 2007, the then Assistant Collector passed an order under Section 133 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C.) stating that the road being used by the local residents for a long time was a ‘detailed road’, and the estate management could not levy a toll or obstruct the use of the road by the locals during night hours.

However, the High Court, in April 2008 quashed the Assistant Collector’s order after criticising him for having invoked the criminal law with respect to a private property. “While the people of the locality wanted a permanent and lawful solution, the authorities should not have resorted to shortcut solutions by having recourse to the proceedings initiated under Section 133 of the Cr.P.C.,” the court said.

However, giving a word of advice, the court said: “It is also needless to mention that the petitioner Estate will not deny access to the villagers of Anna Nagar and Kamaraj Nagar to use the pathway as it was done in the last 13 years with such restrictions and conditions as it may impose for utilising the Estate Road considering that it is the only access to the outside world.“

When the order was taken on appeal, the Supreme Court in 2011 directed the estate management to permit access to the road even during night hours and restrained the management from locking both ends of the road. Stating that the residents were still facing hardship, the petitioner now said that the issue could be resolved only if the State acquires the lands required for converting the private road into a public road.

Published - November 16, 2026 12:46 am IST