Madras HC upholds HR&CE department's move to not use land for school in Dindigul

MADURAI: The Madurai bench of Madras High Court on Tuesday upheld a decision made by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) department rejecting a request seeking construction of a government high school in the department's land in Dindigul.

Hearing a petition that was filed challenging the decision, a bench comprising justices PN Prakash and S Ananthi observed that education is indeed most important for the citizens and the Right of Education is construed as a fundamental right. "But that cannot mean that the HR and CE Department can give up its lands in violation of the Tamil Nadu HR and CE Act, 1959, which governs them", the judges opined.

Since the Commissioner of HR and CE rejected the request to allot the land for the school building only because it would violate Section 34 (Alienation of immovable trust property) of the Act and the previous orders passed by the High Court, the judges refused to interfere with the Commissioner's order and dismissed the petition.

Petitioner C Arumugam wanted to quash the order passed by the HR and CE Commissioner on January 20, 2022.