The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has issued notices to the Tamil Nadu government and other authorities on a petition challenging the deduction of ₹8.81 crore from the compensation awarded for the acquisition of temple land for development works at the Madurai Bench of the High Court, as reported in Dinamalar.
The petition was filed by the trustee of the Kodhandarama Swamy Temple at Othakadai in Madurai.
According to the petitioner, the temple owns land measuring 6.51 acres at Narasingam, opposite the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court. The land was acquired by the Tamil Nadu government following directions issued for the expansion and development of the High Court campus.
The government fixed compensation for the acquired land at ₹26.45 crore. However, a sum of ₹8.81 crore was deducted under the head of “land development charges”. The remaining amount of ₹17.63 crore was deposited by the government before a subordinate court in Madurai in the name of the temple administration.
Challenging the deduction, the petitioner sought a direction to the Principal Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Land Administration Department to release the deducted amount of ₹8.81 crore to the temple administration along with interest calculated from the date on which the land acquisition proceedings commenced.
During the hearing, counsel appearing for the petitioner argued that the levy of land development charges in connection with the acquisition of temple land was not legally sustainable and sought the quashing of the deduction.
The matter came up before a Division Bench comprising Justices N. Sathish Kumar and M. Jothiraman.
After hearing the submissions, the Bench ordered notices to the Principal Secretary of the Land Administration Department, the Madurai District Collector and the Land Acquisition Officer.
The court has posted the matter for further hearing on 24 June 2026.
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