Probe begins in Dinakaran case

Survey being carried using modern mapping technology

The survey, carried out using the modern mapping technology, mainly with the GPS, will “be a true reflection of what is on the ground” and as a “support tool” will help “decision makers to arrive at a proper decision,” Major Gen Dr R Sivakumar, CEO, National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), said here.

“It will take us at least 45 days to complete the mapping in Kaverirajapuram, and we are only silent partners in getting information” to assist the probe, Sivakumar, heading the three-member SOI team, said. The team has come here under the directives of the Central Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi. The other two members are Sanjay Kumar, Member-Secretary, SoI, Lucknow, and M Dharmaraj, Director, SoI, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Andaman and Nicobar regions.

Wednesday’s exercise, laid the ground for the land survey by a professional mapping body like the SoI, in the wake of serious allegations and public outcry against Justice Dinakaran, whose elevation to the Supreme Court has been kept on hold.
The team initially heard the views of the Thiruvallur District Collector, V Palanikumar, who stands by his two reports to the Supreme Court collegium that nearly 199.5 acres of all types of poromboke land have allegedly been encroached upon by Dinakaran.

Significantly, the team also heard the views of representatives of Dinakaran, led by his wife Vinodhini Dinakaran. Vinodhini was accompanied by a fairly large 17-strong contingent of her family members, well-wishers and some villagers from Kaverirajapuram. “We received the documents from both the sides,” said Sivakumar, adding, “they will need to look into the claims made by both sides to find out what is what.”

Discounting the impression that any formal inquiry was made, Sivakumar made its clear that the brief was only to carry out the mapping and present a report to the government as early as possible. Though the State Revenue Department also has its maps, the SoI “has a different way of mapping and a method of classifying all land features,” he said.
The team will visit Kaverirajapuram at the appropriate time, he said and denied that it was under “pressure” from any quarter. Whether the survey will establish the alleged “ownership” or “encroachment” of land by the judge, he said: “We will not say anything; we will just give our report to the DST.”

Underscoring that a land survey by a body like the SoI had a “different national framework” compared to the “local framework”, Sivakumar said: “Two reports were talking about two types of things (one by the collector and another on the judge’s behalf totally denying the charge), and they have to be reconciled.”