MADURAI: The district administration narrowly avoided contempt proceedings against it after it recovered a 31-acre government property, assigned to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in 1912 for creating an ‘industrial home’ for needy women. The property was found to be sold to private individuals by CSI Madurai Ramnad Diocese for commercial purposes, in violation of norms.
The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Friday closed a contempt petition filed against the district administration over the delay in implementation of an order passed by the court, in a plea alleging breach of land assignment conditions.
The petitioner, D Devasahayam, claimed that though the court, in the plea filed in 2022, had ordered the commissioner of land administration to conduct an inquiry to verify if there was any breach of the assignment conditions, no steps were taken by the concerned authorities.
However, when the contempt petition was heard on Friday, government counsel informed the court that norms had been breached and the property, currently worth Rs 933 crore, had been taken over by the government.
Recording the submissions, a bench of Justices D Krishnakumar and R Vijayakumar closed the petition.
According to the petitioner, ABCFM was rechristened as the United Church Board for World Ministries, and it abided by the conditions of land assignment and used its income for an industrial home for orphans and destitute until 1973.
However, some of the organisation’s properties were illegally transferred to the Church of South India Trust Association in 1973 and the latter failed to adhere to the land assignment conditions. Claiming that one of the main conditions stipulated at the time of assigning the land to ABCFM was that the properties should be used for industrial and charitable purposes, failing which the government may recover the land, the petitioner approached the high court, which ordered an inquiry in December 2022.
Based on the order, the land administration commissioner recently confirmed that the property was sold to real estate developers and consists of a residential apartment and 344 commercial establishments, among others. A portion of the land also remains unutilised.
Following the commissioner’s proceedings dated January 11, 2024, the property was recovered by the district administration on Friday.