After a prolonged legal battle, the Tamil Nadu government on Saturday (September 18) reclaimed 91 acres of government land worth ₹2000 crores that was encroached by Jeppiaar Educational Trust which runs the Sathyabhama University and several engineering colleges.
The eviction comes in the light of an order by the Commissioner of Land Administration (CLA) asking the trust to vacate the land, dismissing JET’s revision petition that challenged a 2011 order.
The trust had built hostels on the encroached land where girl students were staying. The officials were asked to discuss with the college management to make alternative arrangements before evicting them from the premises.
As per the Revenue Department, the guideline value of the site in 2012 was ₹595.9 crore and the market value ₹1,048.3 crore. This has now escalated to around ₹2010 crores.
Revenue Minister KKSSR Ramachandran along with Health Minister Ma. Subramanian visited the spot for inspection.
Jeppiaar Educational Trust was founded by Jeppiaar, an industrialist and alleged educationist. He started his career as a police constable and later entered politics. He was the Secretary of the AIADMK in Chennai District from 1972 to 1987 and was a special envoy to the Chief Minister. He acted as the Government chief whip of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council.
He was one of the earliest politician-cum-educationist and was elemental in the mushrooming of private engineering colleges.
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