The Madras High Court has given the Tamil Nadu state government the green signal to acquire 35 acres belonging to the Sri Nareeswarar Temple in the newly created Kallakurichi district. The land will be utilised for the construction of a collectorate and other government buildings.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamurthy gave the ruling in a petition filed by temple activist Rangarajan Narasimhan.
Narasimhan, in his petition, challenged the government order dated 19 September 2020 passed by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department, which allowed the government to take over the land. The petitioner also stated that the lands were being sold at a meagre ₹1.98 crores.
The actual value of the land is estimated to be more than ₹88 crores.
However, the bench refused to vacate an interim stay order against the state, which was passed by a bench comprising Justices M Sathyanarayanan and R Hemalatha. The stay order puts a halt on construction activities and restrains the government from altering the physical features of the land until the proposal was finalised.
Narasimhan had also contended that as per the HR&CE Act, only the board of trustees could allow any sale or lease of temple land to anyone, but in this case, the HR&CE Department was seeking permission after handing over the lands.
Furthermore, the petitioner submitted that the temple, which is over a thousand years old, is in a dilapidated condition and may collapse due to a lack of upkeep and maintenance. As the land was the only source of revenue for the temple, it cannot be alienated from the temple, unless it was for the benefit of the temple and not or any other purpose, he argued.
The bench also directed the state government to form a two-member committee comprising the Kallakurichi district collector and district judge to ascertain the value of the land which is to be alienated from the temple.
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