Madras High Court resumes hearing of cases against Vijay, Kamal Haasan, Udhayanidhi Stalin’s ECR bungalows

After a gap of six years, the Madras High Court has now resumed hearing of a large series of cases related to alleged unauthorized construction of bungalows, resorts, guest houses and farm houses along the high tide line on the East Coast Road (ECR) in Chennai.

A division bench of Justices Anita Sumanth and Mummineni Sudhir Kumar noted that the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) had in 2018 issued notices to 798 properties that were allegedly constructed in violation of norms between Neelangarai and Uthandi.

The notices were issued after the high court pulled up enforcement officials for turning a blind eye to constructions carried out within 200 meters and between 200-500 meters of the high tide line in violation of Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) notifications.

Those who served the notice included Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, Rajya Sabha member Kamal Haasan and Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) president C. Joseph Vijay, along with industrialists, educationists, doctors, businessmen, film actors and politicians.

The judges also found that 440 out of 798 property owners had filed either statutory appeals or amendments under the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act 1971, but only 84 of those appeals had been disposed of till date and the rest were still pending.

The bench was further informed that an officer holding the post of Additional Secretary (Technical) in the Department of Housing and Urban Development had heard all those appeals/revisions in 2024 but he retired from service in 2025 without passing any order.

It was also brought to the notice of the court that, at present, S. Kanchanamala, Chief Planner (Road Transport), Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, was serving as Additional Secretary (Technical) in the Department of Housing and Urban Development on deputation.

Therefore, a division bench led by Justice Sumanth directed the existing authority to hear all the pending statutory appeals as well as amendments between February 23 and March 30, 2026, by allowing property owners or their representatives to make submissions in their defence.

Making it clear that the present court order itself should be treated as notice of hearing and property owners should not expect any fresh notice of hearing from the concerned authority, the judges said, all appeals/revisions should be disposed of before May 31, 2026.

The Division Bench said that revisions and appeals should be disposed of by passing oral/reasoned orders. It directed the state government to retain Ms Kanchanamala as Additional Secretary (Technical) in the Housing and Urban Development Department until it completes the process.

“We are bound to say this, as the petitioners are aggrieved by the fact that the then appellate/revisional authority CS Murugan, who heard 440 appeals from October to December 2024, had demitted office in January 2025 without disposing of them,” the judges said.

He also said that the concerned officials of the GCC as well as the CMDA would be free to proceed as per law against those property owners who had neither filed statutory appeals nor made amendments against the lock and seal or demolition notices issued to them.

appointed as a senior counsel amicus curiae The Division Bench in the case was told that it is very important to protect the long coastline in Chennai, not only because it is aesthetically pleasing but also because it has to be protected from the environmental point of view.

The coastal area serves as nesting grounds for Olive Ridley turtles and was the last remaining source of fresh water in a water-stressed economy, he said. Therefore, he urged the court to order a census of unauthorized constructions beyond Uthandi so that action can be initiated against those buildings as well.

After hearing them, the judges directed the high court registry to list the batch of cases on February 27, 2026, for passing further orders.