JUDGMENT : P.D. AUDIKESAVALU, J. 1. The Petitioner in this Public Interest Litigation has raised serious concerns about the deplorable state of affairs caused by the indiscriminate encroachments on the water bodies, prevailing in the State of Tamil Nadu in the backdrop of acute water shortage and ecological degradation as a consequence thereof and has sought certain directions to deny certain rights and benefits enjoyed by the encroachers so that they do not reap the benefits of their own acts of wrong doing. 2. We may at once point out that there has not been any dearth of statutory provisions as well as orders passed by this Court for expeditious removal of the encroachments in the water bodies, atleast for the past 15 years. 3. The Division Bench of this Court in L. Krishnan vs. State of Tamil Nadu, (2005) 4 CTC 1 : (2005) 4 LW 415, held as follows:- "14....Inasmuch as this Writ Petition has come before us by way of a Public Interest Litigation, we take this opportunity to direct the State Government to identify all such natural water resources in different parts of the State and wherever illegal encroachments are found, initiate appropriate steps in accordance with the relevant provisions of law for restoring such natural water storage resources which have been classified as such in the revenue records to its original position so that the suffering of the people of the State due to water shortage is ameliorated." In the said decision, reference was made to the following passage of the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Hinch Lal Tiwari vs. Kamala Devi, (2001) 6 SCC 496 :- "13. It is important to notice that the material resources of the community like forests, tanks, ponds, hillock, mountain, etc. are nature's bounty. They maintain delicate ecological balance. They need to be protected for a proper and healthy environment which enable people to enjoy a quality life which is the essence of the guaranteed right under Article 21 of the Constitution. The Government, including the Revenue Authorities i.e. Respondents 11 to 13, having noticed that a pond is falling in disuse, should have bestowed their attention to develop the same which would, on the one hand, have prevented ecological disaster and on the other provided better environment for the benefit of the public at large. The Government, including the Revenue Authorities i.e. Respondents 11 to 13, having noticed that a pond is falling in disuse, should have bestowed their attention to develop the same which would, on the one hand, have prevented ecological disaster and on the other provided better environment for the benefit of the public at large. Such vigil is the best protection against knavish attempts to seek allotment in non-abadi sites." 4. Another Division Bench of this Court in Anti Corruption Movement vs. Government of Tamil Nadu (Order dated 04.10.2007 in W.P. Nos. 25776 of 2006 and 17915 of 1993) taking notice of the difficulties expressed by the Government of Tamil Nadu in carrying out the process of removal of encroachments in water bodies, had classified the tanks in the following categories:- "5................ (i) Category 'A' Tanks that do not have any problem in taking up the rehabilitation and restoration work. (ii) Category 'B' Tanks that are relatively large and essentially required to be restored at least partially for improving and sustaining the sub-soil water levels and ensuring pollution free environment. (iii) Category 'C' Tanks that are totally infested, with encroachments and cannot be restored for the present. On that basis, the following directions have been issued in the order:- "7.... (i) The Secretaries, Public Words Department, in consultation with the respective District Collectors, are directed to decide the programme of evicting the encroachments in the water bodies falling in Categories 'A' and 'B' referred to above, by the end of November, 2007 and complete the process of removal of such encroachments by the end of May, 2008. (ii) The State Government is at liberty to consider, in appropriate cases, grant of alternative sites for re-location of the encroachers, as per their policy decision. All the authorities concerned like the local authorities as well as the police officials, will extend their full cooperation to the Public Works Department/District Collectors for effectively implementing the policy decision of the Government of removal of encroachments from water bodies. All the authorities concerned like the local authorities as well as the police officials, will extend their full cooperation to the Public Works Department/District Collectors for effectively implementing the policy decision of the Government of removal of encroachments from water bodies. (iii) No Civil Court shall entertain any suit or proceeding in connection with the removal of the encroachments in the water bodies and every person, who has put up any construction in such water bodies and who is aggrieved by the action taken by the authorities of removal of such encroachment from the water bodies, is at liberty to move this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India and all such applications shall be placed before the First Bench of this Court. (iv) The State Government is directed to identify and take stern action against the land grabbers who have sold the lands in the water bodies to innocent purchasers, which would be notified and the Registration Department concerned is directed not to register any transaction in respect of such lands falling under the water bodies. (v) In respect of the Porur tank, the Respondents have already removed all the encroachments and the said water body is free of any encroachment. In case any encroachment is made on the water body in future, it will be open for the authorities to remove such encroachment even without, issuing any notice to such encroachers. (vi) It is also made clear that even after the encroachments from the water bodies are removed as per the policy decision of the State Government, the respective District Collectors shall keep a close watch over such water bodies and in case of any fresh encroachment thereon, the District Collectors are at liberty to remove the same with the help of police, wherever necessary, without any notice, to such encroachers." 5. In the meanwhile, the legislature of the State of Tamil Nadu, on its part, has enacted the Tamil Nadu Protection of Tanks and Eviction of Encroachment Act, 2007 (hereinafter referred to as the TNPTEE Act for short), which provides measures for checking and eviction of encroachments in tanks which are under the control and management of the Public Works Department of the State. The validity of the said Act, which was called in question, was upheld by the Division Bench of this Court in T.S. Senthil Kumar vs. Government of Tamil Nadu, (2010) WLR 113 : (2010) 3 MLJ 771 and certain directions were issued for smooth implementation of the eviction process under the TNPTEE Act. 6. On noticing that another Division Bench of this Court in Sivakasi Region Tax Payers Association vs. State of Tamil Nadu, (2008) 5 MLJ 1425 : (2008) 4 LW 415 had expressed certain views which run inconsistent with the earlier decision in L. Krishnan vs. State of Tamil Nadu, (2005) 4 CTC 1 : (2005) 4 LW 415, the matter was referred to the Full Bench of this Court in T.K. Shanmugam vs. State of Tamil Nadu, (2015) 5 LW 397 , which held in paragraph 45 as follows:- "45....The provisions of the Tamil Nadu Protection of Tanks and Eviction of Encroachment Act, 2007 does not in any manner dilute the observations/directions issued in L. Krishnan vs. State of Tamil Nadu, (2005) 3 LW 313 : 2005 (4) CTC 1 , as quoted with the approval by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Jagapal Singh vs. State of Punjab, (2011) 3 LW 17 : (2011) 11 SCC 396 and the observations contained in paragraph 20(d)(e) of the judgment of the Division Bench in T.S. Senthil Kumar vs. Government of Tamil Nadu, (2010) WLR 113 : (2010) 3 MLJ 771 and that the tanks which do not fall within the purview of the Tamil Nadu Protection of Tanks and Eviction of Encroachment Act, 2007, also require protection from encroachment and any encroachment made in such tanks or water bodies have to be removed by following the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Land Encroachment Act, 1905." In that authoritative pronouncement, this Court has recognised the obligation of the State Government under the Public Trust Doctrine to protect the water bodies and remove encroachments and has held in paragraph 44 therein as follows:- "44. The Government Orders starting from 30.12.2006 in G.O. (Ms) No. 854, Revenue Department and subsequent Government Orders in G.O. Ms. No. 498, 711, 34, 43 and 372 dated 05.09.2007, 30.11.2007, 23.01.2008, 29.01.2010 and 26.08.2014 respectively, with particular reference to encroachments in water bodies are in clear violation of the public trust doctrine. The Government Orders starting from 30.12.2006 in G.O. (Ms) No. 854, Revenue Department and subsequent Government Orders in G.O. Ms. No. 498, 711, 34, 43 and 372 dated 05.09.2007, 30.11.2007, 23.01.2008, 29.01.2010 and 26.08.2014 respectively, with particular reference to encroachments in water bodies are in clear violation of the public trust doctrine. Moreover, Article 51-A of the Constitution of India enjoins that it shall be the duty of every citizen of India, inter-alia, to protect and improve the national environment including forests, lakes, rivers, wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures. This Article is not only fundamental in the governance of the country but a duty on the State to apply these principles in making laws and further to be kept in mind in understanding the scope and purport of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution including Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution and also the various laws enacted by Parliament and the State Legislatures. But unfortunately, the State, by passing the above said Government Orders, actively encourages encroachers of water bodies, to indulge in illegal and unlawful activities and also bent upon regularizing their possession which has to be deprecated." 7. Be that as it may, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in the Report No. 8 of 2017 for the year ended March, 2017, relating to the General and Social Sector in the Government of Tamil Nadu, has submitted a Report in terms of Article 151(2) of the Constitution of India, 1950. In the said Report, it has been highlighted that the system envisaged in the TNPTEE Act to protect the tanks from encroachments did not help in protecting the tanks as the Water Resources Department did not fix boundaries for all the water bodies through survey, which was the first step in prevention of encroachments and eviction of already existing encroachments. Having due regard to the fact that 49% of the total objectionable encroachments in the State were on water bodies, it has been recommended in that Report that inasmuch as the TNPTEE Act had inherent limitations as it did not cover encroachments on smaller irrigation tanks and Ooranis (traditional water bodies) created to harvest rain water for drinking and other purposes, the Government may consider bringing rivers, streams, tanks, ooranis, etc. under the purview of the TNPTEE Act and ensure a time bound survey of all water bodies. under the purview of the TNPTEE Act and ensure a time bound survey of all water bodies. Further, in order to overcome the coordination issues between the Water Resources Department and the Revenue Department in surveying the water bodies, it has been expressed that the Government may consider creation of survey units in Water Resources Department Divisions/Circles, in line with similar survey units functioning in urban local bodies. 8. Despite the aforesaid Statutory Provisions, Court Directions and Report of the Constitutional Authorities, no tangible headway appears to have been made in the process of fully evicting the encroachers from their illegal occupation of the water bodies. As such, the situation has become imperative for this Court to take up the task of monitoring the eviction of the encroachers from the water bodies. As a first step in that regard, we issue the following directions:- (i) The Chief Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu shall file a Report of action taken by the Government of Tamil Nadu on the recommendations for rectification of the shortcomings in the process of eviction of encroachments on water bodies indicated in the Report No. 8 of 2017 of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for the year ended March, 2017, by 11.02.2019. (ii) The Collectors of their respective Districts in the State shall prepare a list of lands identified as water bodies in their revenue records and send copies of the same to the Officers of the Registration Department, the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (TANGEDCO), the Local Bodies and the District Election Officers in their respective Districts by 08.02.2019 and file an action taken report before this Court by 11.02.2019. (iii) The Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu shall, after collecting necessary data from the concerned Departments and Collectors of the various Districts, file a Report showing the list of water bodies as found in the revenue records of the State by 11.02.2019. (iv) No registering authority under the Registration Act, 1908, shall henceforth register any document in respect of any land which has been notified as water body in the revenue records of the State and the Inspector General of Registration, Government of Tamil Nadu shall issue necessary circular to all the Registration Officers in the State for ensuring compliance in this regard by 11.02.2019. (v) No electricity connection shall henceforth be provided to any building in any land which has been notified as water body in the revenue records of the State and the Chairman-cum-Managing Director, TANGEDCO shall issue necessary circular to all its officers authorised to grant electricity connection for ensuring compliance in this regard by 11.02.2019. (vi) No water connection shall henceforth be provided to any building in any land which has been notified as water body in the revenue records of the State and the Principal Secretaries of Municipal Administration Department and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department shall issue necessary circular to all the urban and rural local bodies in the State for ensuring compliance in this regard by 11.02.2019. (vii) No approval shall henceforth be given for any construction of any building and no building shall be assessed for property tax, by any local body in any land which has been notified as water body in the revenue records of the State and the Principal Secretaries of Municipal Administration Department and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department shall issue necessary circular to all the urban and rural local bodies in the State for ensuring compliance in this regard by 11.02.2019. (viii) No person shall henceforth be included in the voters list for the election, if the residence claimed by such person is in any land, which has been notified as water body in the revenue records of the State and the Chief Election Officer of the State shall issue necessary circular to all the authorities involved in that process in the State for ensuring compliance in this regard by 11.02.2019. (ix) The Report of the action taken by all the authorities indicated supra, shall be filed before the Registrar (Judicial) of this Court by 13.02.2019. 9. We are fortified in issuing these interim directions by the decisions of the Division Bench of this Court in Elephant G. Rajendran vs. Chief Secretary (Order dated 09.09.2016 in W.P. No. 219566 of 2015) and the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Sunil Kumar Kori vs. Gopal Das Kabra (Order dated 27.09.2016 in Civil Appeal Nos. 9728 and 9729 of 2016). 9728 and 9729 of 2016). It is needless to add here that citizens, who have acted in violation of their fundamental duty under Article 51-A(g) of the Constitution of India, 1950, to protect and improve the natural environment including lakes and rivers, cannot be heard to complain of deprivation of any fundamental right till their purge from their unconstitutional acts. 10. Post the matter on 15.02.2019 for verifying compliance of the aforesaid directions and further hearing.