MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday, in an interim order, stayed the operation of a Government Order that restrained the registration department from unilaterally blocking or unblocking registration of lands based on requests from the HR&CE (Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments) and other departments.
A bench of Justices Anita Sumanth and C Kumarappan passed the interim order on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by A Radhakrishnan of Salem who sought the quashing of the GO on the ground that it prevents the HR&CE authorities and temple trustees from protecting the properties of religious institutions.
The petitioner contended that the GO violated the property rights of the deities (who are considered minors with the HR&CE officials and trustees as guardians) and prevented the officials and trustees from discharging their duties to protect the properties of temples.
The petition also pointed out that nearly 9,866 cases relating to illegal encroachment and sale of temple properties across the state are pending before district revenue officers, and the GO would lead to illegal alienation of temple properties if the registration of such temple lands is not blocked.
The impugned GO, which was passed by the Revenue and Disaster Management Department on September 30, 2025, stated that HR&CE officials were filing appeals before revenue officials to cancel pattas that stood in the name of individuals in updated revenue records (UDR records) and transfer them in favour of temples claiming that those lands were recorded in the name of the temples in older revenue records like pre-UDR records and Inam Fair Registry.
High power panel formed under chief secy
Besides this, the HR&CE authorities were also writing to registration officials seeking to block the sale or registration of such lands, the GO said.
Such unilateral blocking of lands without specific instructions from the revenue department were not proper and would nullify pattas that were legally granted under Tamil Nadu Minor Inams (Abolition and Conversion Into Ryotwari) Act, 1963, the GO said.
To resolve this issue, a meeting convened under Chief Secretary on August 29 led to the constitution of a High Powered Committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary.
The GO said, “In future, neither the blocking or unblocking of registration or Tamil Nilam online records shall occur without the concurrence of the government and all requests for blocking registration shall be placed before the High Powered Committee.”
The PIL, however, contended this and said that the government cannot arbitrarily erase or overwrite the statutory powers of the registering authority to refuse registration of documents relating to properties of religious institutions.
The petitioner further alleged that under the guise of Updating Registry Scheme, religious institutions have already lost several acres of immovable properties.
Filing such appeals before the DROs to retrieve the lands cannot be termed improper, and the GO would lead to encroachment of temple properties by individuals. The case was adjourned to October 29 for further hearing.
