CHENNAI: A PIL petition has been filed in the Madras High Court to restrain Sri Marundheeswarar Temple in Tiruvanmiyur from opening a wedding hall on the little over six acres of land belonging to the Tamil Nadu Housing Board, opposite the temple on the ECR.
When the petition from PR Sekar, secretary, Tiruvanmiyur House Site Ownership Public Welfare Association, which claimed the temple and its executive officer as ‘rank encroachers’ of the land, came up for hearing on Tuesday, the first bench of Chief Justice VK Tahilramani and Justice M Duraiswamy posted the matter to April 24 for filing counters by officials of the Corporation and Housing Board, temple authorities and the Housing department secretary.
According to petitioner, the land measuring 6.79 acres belonged to the State which allotted it to the Housing Board. However, R Jagadeesan claimed ownership of the land and moved the civil court. A compensation of Rs 4.60 lakh was deposited before the civil court.
At the end of the litigation, the government took over the property in 1986. The land was lying vacant until 2011 when the temple authorities trespassed on the land and started building the wedding hall there despite a stiff opposition from the public.