The Madras High Court on Thursday extended till May 12 an interim order passed by it on April 30 restraining private lodge owners in Vellore town from evicting poor north Indians who had visited Christian Medical College (CMC) for treatment of various ailments but could not return to their natives due to the lockdown to fight COVID-19.
Justices Vineet Kothari and Pushpa Sathyanarayana extended the interim order since neither the State government nor the lodge owners’ association had filed counter affidavits to a public interest litigation petition filed by activist D.W. Karuna Miriyam against evicting the stranded people. The litigant claimed that they had no means to pay rent.
Initially, the Vellore district administration had allowed them to stay without payment of rent but later it insisted that the guests should pay at least 50% of the rent and the rest would be shared equally between the revenue department and the lodge owners, the petitioner said and sought for a direction to make arrangements for their food and accommodation.
