Tamil Nadu Law Minister R Nirmalkumar on Monday said the State government, as per the direction of Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, had taken steps to file a review petition in the Supreme Court against its order directing the eviction of people and farmers from the Megamalai region in Theni district.

“We have filed a petition today. The case is likely to come up for hearing on Wednesday,” he said while replying to a special calling-attention motion in the Assembly.

Mr. Nirmalkumar charged the failure of the DMK and AIADMK governments to handle the issue properly had resulted in the present situation.

“It was in 2009, when the DMK was in power, that it was declared a Reserve Forest. It was declared the Srivilliputhur-Megamalai Tiger Reserve in February 2021, when the AIADMK was in power. If the governments had handled the issue properly and exempted deserving people, we would not have faced the present situation,” he added.

The Minister said a Central team had toured the State for eight months between July 2025 and February 2026, conducted a study in Tamil Nadu and, based on the documents submitted by the committee, the Supreme Court delivered its order on eviction.

“If the government had provided adequate documents and evidence to the team, the people could have been exempted,” he said.

Published – August 17, 2026 09:55 pm IST