MADURAI: The Madurai City Crime Branch (CCB) has registered a case against 19 people, including two serving sub-registrars and two more former revenue officials, over the fraudulent transfer and registration of land belonging to a trust under the Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple. The FIR was registered based on a complaint lodged by the temple’s joint commissioner.
According to the complaint, the case pertains to a charitable endowment created under a will executed on November 5, 1930, by T M Durairani of, the “Asodha Vilas” bungalow and garden, measuring 0.72640 hectares at P P Kulam (Chokkikulam), were bequeathed to Pudukottai Rajakumarar Dakshanamoorthy Durairaja Durairani Trust under the Meenakshi temple for religious and charitable purposes.
The complaint alleged that the temple property was illegally transferred in 2016 after the temple’s title was removed from revenue records and patta was issued in favour of private individuals by the then Madurai North tahsildar.
The order was later set aside by the revenue divisional officer, while the district revenue officer directed a fresh inquiry. The Madras High Court also granted an interim stay in March 2021 against implementing the disputed patta transfer.
Despite the pending litigation, the suspects allegedly concealed the court proceedings and executed a general power of attorney at the Murappanadu sub-registrar office in Thoothukudi on April 16, 2021. Based on the document, a mortgage deed was subsequently registered at the Vadamadurai sub-registrar office in Dindigul on July 19, 2021, in favour of three peopls.
Police registered a case under Sections 420 and 120B of the IPC against 19, including former VAO Arasan, former tahsildar of Madurai North taluk Anbalagan, Murappanadu sub-registrar A Anantharaman, and Vadamadurai sub-registrar Prasanth Santhana Karuppan.