The Supreme Court refused to interfere with the Madras High Court’s order permitting the State of Tamil Nadu to carry out public interest works at the Madras Race Club premises but issued a clarification limiting the scope of such works to those strictly related to the proposed eco-park and pond development project.
A Bench comprising Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice R. Mahadevan was hearing the Special Leave Petition filed by the Madras Race Club challenging the Division Bench order dated October 22, 2025. The High Court had directed that the State may proceed with strengthening and development works of the pond and other public projects on the club’s land and that the club should cooperate and not obstruct.
Appearing for the petitioner club, Senior Advocates Gopal Subramanium and Guru Krishnakumar argued that the High Court’s direction was overly broad and prejudiced the Club’s property rights, as the State’s activities could extend beyond the pond area. Senior Advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Mukul Rohatgi, and P. Wilson represented the State, contending that the works were for environmental and public benefit.
While declining to interfere with the High Court’s order, the Supreme Court narrowed its interpretation, clarifying that paragraph 25 of the judgment only empowers the State to execute works necessary for the eco-park project and that such activity would remain subject to the final outcome of the case. The Bench further directed the Madras High Court Division Bench to dispose of the pending applications expeditiously.
Accordingly, the Special Leave Petition was disposed of, along with all pending applications.
Appearances:
Petitioner: Mr. Gopal Subramanium, Sr. Adv.; Mr. Guru Krishnakumar, Sr. Adv.; Mr. Vaibhav Venkatesh, Adv.; Ms. Gauri Subramanium, Adv.; Mr. K. Shiva, AOR; Mr. Akash Srinanda, Adv.; Mr. Anirudh Sriram, Adv.; Mr. Jayavardhan Singh, Adv.; Mr. Raghav Kohli, Adv.; Mr. Adnan Yousuf, Adv.
Respondent: Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Sr. Adv.; Mr. Mukul Rohatgi, Sr. Adv.; Mr. P.Wilson, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Sabarish Subramanian, AOR; Mr. K.s.badhirnathan, Adv.; Mr. Apoorv Malhotra, Adv.
Mr. Lokesh Krishna, Adv.; Mr. Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Adv.; Ms. Jahnavi Taneja, Adv.; Mr. Danish Saifi, Adv.
