The Madras High Court on Friday refused to give any quick relief to the Tamil Nadu government in its appeal against a ruling directing it to pay ₹2.18 crore rental arrears. The writ appeal challenges a single judge’s August 2025 order that asked the government to clear dues to landlords of the Tambaram Police Commissionerate. A First Division Bench led by Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G. Arul Murugan adjourned the hearing by two months. The court said it was “absolutely not right” for the government to squat on private land. Advocate General P.S. Raman told the court that a former Police Commissioner had agreed to pay ₹10.14 lakh per month in rent, while the Public Works Department had assessed the rent at only ₹6.33 lakh. The Chief Justice said the court might have to make adverse comments if it examined the case in detail. He also recalled a case from Rajasthan where a government hospital was built on private land but the owner was not paid for years. The Advocate General said the Tamil Nadu government has identified public land for a new Tambaram Police Commissionerate building. The Chief Minister is expected to lay its foundation in February, with completion targeted by the end of 2027. Senior counsel V. Raghavachari, representing the landlords, said they rented the property based on the officer’s promise of ₹10.14 lakh monthly rent. But the government refused to honor this, forcing landlords to seek court intervention after their request to vacate the building was ignored. In August 2025, Justice N. Anand Venkatesh had dismissed the landlords' writ petition but ordered the government to pay the rent arrears with a 10% annual increase for 2026 and 2027. The government also agreed to vacate the premises by the end of 2027, leading to the current writ appeal.