The Madras High Court ruled that the state government cannot allow public lands reserved for parks, schools, and other public uses to be converted into housing plots by applying new rules backwards. The court said any reduction in Open Space Reserve (OSR) areas must only apply going forward, not to older housing layouts. This decision came from a Division Bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and Mohammed Shaffiq while dismissing a 2020 appeal challenging a 2019 order. The original 2019 judgment by Justice M. Dhandapani struck down a 2005 Government Order that had allowed the Peelamedu Industrial Workers Cooperative Housing Construction Society in Coimbatore to shrink public land reservations and add housing plots. The society had revised layouts multiple times since 1955, cutting down the reserved common area from 24% to as low as 10% by 2005. The court highlighted that open spaces are vital for residents’ recreation and environmental health, often called a 'lung space.' The Division Bench agreed and ordered the Coimbatore corporation to take back possession of these OSR lands within three months, maintaining them for local residents as per the 1968 layout. This ruling protects essential public spaces from being eaten up by housing developments.