In a significant ruling on July 9, 2024, the Madras High Court overturned efforts by the family of a deceased ex-serviceman to claim ownership of five acres of land valued at ₹144 crore in Perumbakkam, Chennai. The Division Bench, comprising Justices S.M. Subramaniam and C. Kumarappan, upheld a writ appeal by the Tamil Nadu government, declaring the 1966 land assignment illegal.
The court cited a ban on government land assignments in Chennai city and Chengalpattu district since 1962, emphasizing that the ex-serviceman failed to meet cultivation requirements outlined in the assignment order. Given Perumbakkam’s transformation into a bustling locality near the IT corridor, the court concluded that the land was unsuitable for cultivation and had been slated for residential tenements since 2007.