State restrained from building new Collectorate on temple land

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Friday restrained the government from constructing a new Collectorate building for the recently announced Kallakurichi district on a temple land.

A two-member bench comprising Justices M Sathyanarayanan and R Hemalatha passed the directions on a plea moved by Rangarajan Narasimhan challenging a Government Order dated September 19 paving way for alienation of the temple land to the government.

According to the petitioner, a sum of Rs 1.98 crore was fixed as price for 35 acres owned by the Shiva temple to acquire the land to build a new collectorate complex. The land was also acquired and foundation stone was laid by the Chief Minister.

However, the market value of the land is close to Rs 100 crore, the petitioner claimed. Instead of utilising 29 acres of poramboke land adjacent to the temple land, the government has decided to take the temple land for the construction, he added. The authorities have already commenced the construction work, even before the alienation process was completed, the petitioner claimed.

Special government pleader M Karthikeyan, appearing  for the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, informed the court that the department has decided not to alienate the land to the State.

Rs 1.98 crore was fixed as price for 35 acres of land owned by a temple, but the market value is about Rs 100 crore, says petitioner