MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday sought a report from the commissioner of HR&CE department on steps to be taken to restore the properties of Balasubramaniaswamy temple at Vennaimalai in Karur.
A bench of justices P Velmurugan and B Pugalendhi gave the direction on a contempt petition filed by A Radhakrishnan of Salem, over delay in compliance of a judgment, dated October 23, 2019, which directed the department to take necessary steps to remove the encroachments in nearly 508 acres of land belonging to the temple and to restore them.
Criticising the revenue officials and police, the judges had issued a series of directions to them to provide necessary assistance to the HR&CE to evict the encroachers. Based on the same, the Karur superintendent of police filed a status report detailing the steps taken by him such as deployment of officers to provide protection during eviction proceedings and cases registered against the protesters, including sitting Congress MP S Jothimani and former AIADMK minister MR Vijayabaskar, among others.
Acknowledging the same, the judges sought a report from the HR&CE commissioner and joint commissioner on the action proposed to be taken to remove all the encroachments and restore the lands. The case was adjourned to Friday.
Earlier in the day, people living in lands belonging to the Vennaimalai Balasubramania Swamy Temple offered special prayers, hoping for a favourable judgment.