Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple authorities have filed a petition to the Collector’s office here over appropriation of 14 acre of temple land in Ponmeni by an individual.
According to sources in the revenue department, the land, worth crores of rupees, was transferred in violation of all procedures by the then Tahsildar of Madurai West Taluk in late 2018. It has to be noted that an earlier attempt to transfer the land was thwarted in May 2018 by the office of the District Revenue Officer.
“The DRO had issued an order stating that the land belonged to the temple and hence should not be transferred,” an official from the revenue department said. The official said that another application for transfer of patta was made under a different name to the Tahsildar of Madurai West taluk, who transferred the land.
The transfer of land was noticed during a recent review of records earlier this week by the temple authorities, who immediately filed a petition to the Collector’s office to revoke the patta.