Madras HC stays order exempting religious structures from NOC

A bench of justices G Jayachandran and N Senthilkumar, which passed the interim order, said the G.O. cannot grant such retrospective relief.

Madurai Bench of Madras High Court (File photo | Express)

MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Friday stayed the operation of a G.O. passed by the Tamil Nadu housing and urban development department on January 8, 2026, which said religious buildings that started functioning between 2019 and 2024 need not submit No Objection Certificate (NOC) for getting planning permission, provided they are in adherence to Tamil Nadu Combined Development and Building Rules, 2019.

A bench of justices G Jayachandran and N Senthilkumar, which passed the interim order, said the G.O. cannot grant such retrospective relief. The order was passed on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Kalanithi, a real estate businessman from Madurai.

Kalanithi stated in his petition that as per above Rules, no planning permission should be entertained for the construction of any religious building unless an NOC is obtained from the district collector. The NOC is a statutory safeguard intended to assess communal sensitivity, law and order implications, suitability of location, among others, he added.

But the state passed an order on January 8, through which buildings that originally obtained permission for non-religious purposes but functioned as religious buildings between February 4, 2019, and March 6, 2024, can be retrospectively validated without insisting on such NOC, he alleged.

Stating that such retrospective regularisation of religious buildings established in violation of law would endanger public order, peace and harmony, he requested the court to quash the G.O., and direct the collectors to analyse public order and morality before issuing permission for construction of religious buildings. The case was adjourned to February 20.

According to the G.O., the rules were introduced in 2019 but the SOP for speedy disposal of NOC were formulated only in 2024. Citing this, the CMDA and some religious institutions had made a representation to the CM to grant approval for religious buildings operating from 2019-2024 without insisting NOC.