CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has set aside a notice issued by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department to Queens Land Amusement Park, seeking its eviction from land allegedly encroached by it at Pappanchatram in Sriperumbudur Taluk of Kancheepuram district.
Justice VM Velumani granted the relief on the grounds of pendency of an appeal filed by two temples claiming rights over the said land, an earlier order of the Madras High Court, and the amusement park’s offer to HR&CE to give alternative land for the disputed property.
"Considering the above materials in its entirety, especially the order of the First Bench of this Court dated October 29, 2021, that the rights pertaining to the land in question will be governed by the result of appeal pending before the Commissioner of Land Administration (CLA), this court is of the view that the petitioners are entitled to the relief sought in the writ petitions," the judge said in her order passed on Wednesday.
The matter pertains to a long legal battle over occupation of 21.06 acres of land belonging to Kasiviswanathar and Venugopalaswamy temples.
The petitioners S Nalini Selvaraj, D Gnanaraj, Selvaraj, S Anandaraj and S Rajapriya - submitted that they got the land for lease from HR&CE in 1995. However, the government declared the land as 'anatheenam land' in 1997 and subsequently the Revenue department sought payment of rent.
Meanwhile, an application moved by the temples seeking patta was rejected by the Kancheepuram Collector. This was challenged before the CLA and the petition is pending.
Amusement park had offered different land
The Madras HC, on October 29, 2021, ordered that the right over the said land is subject to the outcome of the appeal pending before the CLA. Amid this legal battle, the management of the amusement park offered to provide alternative land to the government in lieu of the land under its occupation.
The park management had also moved the HC challenging a notice issued by the HR &CE department on October 8, 2021, seeking it to vacate the land.
The petitioners sought quashing of the impugned notice on the grounds that the temples are not the owners of the property and their request for patta was rejected by assistant settlement of ficer, Tirupathur, and later by district collector twice.
However, the counsel for the temples contended that the petitioners had alternative remedy under the relevant Act, they had suppressed material facts, and their hands were not clean.
Moved HC in 2021
The park management had also moved the HC challenging a notice issued by the HR&CE department on October 8, 2021, seeking it to vacate the land
Temples' request for patta was rejected: Petitioners
The petitioners pointed out that the temples' request for patta was rejected by the assistant settlement officer, Tirupattur, and later by the district collector twice