The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has severely criticized the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department and the district administration of Karur for their persistent failure to remove encroachments on more than 500 acres of land belonging to Arulmigu Balasubramaniaswamy Temple at Vennimalai.
The bench comprising Justices P Velmurugan and B Pugalendhi said that the continued inaction of officials despite repeated judicial directions amounted to contempt of court and reflected “lawlessness in the State.”
The case arose from a contempt petition filed by A. Radhakrishnan, a devotee who had earlier approached the court in 2018 seeking recovery of temple properties. Despite a 2019 order directing the HR&CE Department to take immediate steps to clear encroachments, the directive remained largely unimplemented even after six years.
With nearly 507.88 acres of temple land still under illegal occupation, Radhakrishnan initiated contempt proceedings against senior officials of the department.
In March 2024, the court took cognizance of the contempt, observing that the HR&CE Department despite being the statutory guardian of temple assets had failed to protect the property. The department’s own report admitted that its 2022 eviction drives failed due to protests by encroachers and a “lack of cooperation” from the police and other authorities.
To aid compliance, the court had earlier permitted the HR&CE Department to form a monitoring committee with revenue officials. However, subsequent hearings revealed “no meaningful progress.” On 3 October 2024, the bench suo motu impleaded several serving and retired HR&CE officers, asking them to explain their inaction.
During hearings, officers claimed they had faced “threats and intimidation” from encroachers and were unable to conduct evictions due to non-cooperation from the district administration and police.
The bench observed that such a state of affairs “shows the lawlessness in the State” and directed the Superintendent of Police, Karur, to provide full protection to the temple’s Executive Officer and the Joint Commissioner of HR&CE, Tiruppur.
“The court will not permit the hanging of Damocles’ sword over officers who are discharging their duties,” the bench warned, adding that any danger caused to officials during enforcement would make the Superintendent of Police personally liable.
A subsequent departmental report presented a startling revelation: 27 government officials, 49 industrialists and businessmen, and 38 other influential persons were among those who had encroached on temple lands. However, their names, positions, and details of occupation were not disclosed to the court.
The bench criticized the HR&CE Commissioner for not escalating the issue to the Revenue and Home Departments despite repeated warnings. It also noted that key documents required for reclaiming temple lands were readily available with the district administration and archives but had not been utilized.
“The HR&CE Department, the statutory guardian of temple properties, has failed to discharge its duties, leaving it to a devotee to pursue the matter before this Court,” the judges observed.
To ensure accountability, the bench suo motu impleaded the Superintendent of Police, Karur, as a party respondent and directed all respondents, including senior IAS officers, to personally appear before the court on 17 October 2025, with complete revenue records.
(Source: LawBeat)
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