CHENNAI: A division bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department to take action for protecting the properties of a temple at Avadi in Chennai from land sharks.
The division bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and C Saravanan issued the orders while disposing of a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by A Radhakrishnan, a Salem-based activist. Radhakrishnan had been praying for orders to retrieve property belonging to the Tiruvenkadamudaiyan Venkatesaperumal temple.
The petitioner said, the temple owns land at Vellanur village in Avadi Taluk but no revenue was accrued through it. On verification, it was found that land sharks had grabbed the property by forging documents. He submitted a petition to the HR&CE department Commissioner on May 27, 2019 demanding a committee be formed to survey the property and retrieve it from encroachers.
Subsequently, the joint commissioner with office in Padi, was directed to look into the matter. Radhakrishnan further stated he submitted another representation to the Commissioner on May 22, 2022, but no action was taken.
The counsel representing HR&CE told the court that the property was surveyed and steps were being taken to retrieve it. The counsel for the temple management submitted that a survey was held on 134 -acre land which included water bodies; and action was initiated to safeguard the land.