CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has ordered the Chennai district collector to form a team of officials from different government departments and agencies to identify high-value land belonging to a temple in Chennai city.
A division bench of justices G Jayachandran and E Manoharan passed the order on a batch of petitions, including one by K Sriram of Vandalur, seeking action to retrieve 483 grounds of land belonging to Sri Agastheeswara Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal temple in Nungambakkam.
“For the purpose of identifying and reconciling the properties, we direct the district collector, Chennai, to constitute a team of officers consisting of the tahsildar, head surveyor, and senior officers of the Greater Chennai Corporation,” the bench said in a recent order.
It directed the team to examine the title documents and sale deeds, measure the lands in the field, identify the properties standing in the name of the temple and examine the properties sold on behalf of the temple.
The bench asked the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR & CE) department to take necessary steps to recover rental arrears from the tenants who are occupying the temple properties. In case of any failure to pay rent arrears, necessary action shall be taken for their eviction, it said.
Further, it directed the HR &CE commissioner to take action for recovering the land under illegal occupation.
The bench noted that the petitioners have obtained information through the RTI showing that the temple possessed approximately 483 grounds of land, but from the three sources of registers maintained by the HR & CE department as well as the Revenue department, they were able to account for only around 360 grounds.
Referring to a status report filed by the executive officer of the temple, the bench said it did not contain the details about the sale of deeds under sections 9 and 34 of the HR&CE Act.
“On verification of revenue records, old sale deeds and physical survey of the lands, we also find that the properties leased or let-out either for commercial purpose or residential purpose, or vacant lands are in the possession of a few hundred persons, and huge rental arrears running to few crores of rupees have not yet been recovered,” it said.
The bench directed the authorities concerned to file a report on action taken on December 9, 2026.
