B.Jagannath, Advocate, v. The Revenue Secretary

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS DATED : 10.11.2023 CORAM THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE R. MAHADEVAN and THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P.D. AUDIKESAVALU Writ Petition Nos.12757, 12958 and 12984 of 2023 and WMP. Nos. 12567, 12619, 12620, 12621, 12644, 12737, 12738, 12739, 12741, 12743, 12744, 12774, 12776, 12778, 12782, 12783 and 12784 of 2023 --- B. Jagannath

.. Petitioner in all the Writ Petitions Versus

¶1The Revenue Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, Secretariat, Fort St., George, Chennai - 600 009.

¶2The Inspector General of Registration, No.100, Santhome High Road, Pattinapakkam, Chennai - 600 028.

¶3The Commissioner, Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department (HR & CE), Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600 034.

¶4The Joint Commissioner, Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department, (HR & CE), (Temple Lands), Headquarters, Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600 034.

¶5The Assistant Commissioner, Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department, (HR & CE), Chennai District.

¶6The Executive Officer, Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department, (HR & CE), Arulmigu Vadaplani Murugan Temple, Chennai District.

¶7The District Collector, Chennai District, Chennai - 600 001.

¶8The District Registrar, Central Chennai, Chennai.

¶9The District Registrar, South Chennai, Chennai.

¶10The District Registrar, North Chennai, Chennai.

¶11The District Registrar, South Chennai Joint - II, Chennai.

¶12The Commissioner, Chennai City Police, Vepery, Chennai - 600 003.

¶13The Commissioner, Greater Chennai Corporation, Rippon Buildings, Chennai.

¶14The Commissioner, Tambaram Corporation, Tambaram, Chennai.

¶15The Superintendent Archeologist, Archaeological Survey of India, Chennai Circle, Ministry of Culture, Government of India, Fort St, George, Chennai - 600 009. .. Respondents in WP.No.12757 of 2023

¶1The Revenue Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, Secretariat, Fort St., George, Chennai - 600 009.

¶2The Inspector General of Registration, No.100, Santhome High Road, Pattinapakkam, Chennai - 600 028.

¶3The Commissioner, Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department (HR & CE), Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600 034.

¶4The Joint Commissioner, Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department, (HR & CE), (Temple Lands), Headquarters, Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600 034.

¶5The Assistant Commissioner, Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department, (HR & CE), Chennai District. Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600 034.

¶6The Executive Officer, Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department, (HR & CE), Arulmigu Sri Parthasarathy Perumal Vaishnavaite Divya Desam Temple, Chennai - 600 005.

¶7The District Collector, Chennai District, Chennai - 600 001.

¶8The District Collector, Kanchipuram District, Kanchipuram.

¶9The District Collector, Thiruvallur District, Thiruvallur.

¶10The District Collector, Chengalpet District, Chengalpet.

¶11The District Registrar, Central Chennai, Chennai.

¶12The District Registrar, South Chennai, Chennai.

¶13The District Registrar, North Chennai, Chennai.

¶14The District Registrar, South Chennai Joint - II, Chennai.

¶15The District Registrar, Kanchipuram District, Kanchipuram.

¶16The District Registrar, Chengalpet District, Chengalpet.

¶17The District Registrar, Thiruvallur District, Thiruvallur.

¶18The Commissioner, Chennai City Police, Vepery, Chennai - 600 003.

¶19The Commissioner, Greater Chennai Corporation, Rippon Buildings, Chennai.

¶20The Commissioner, Tambaram Corporation, Tambaram, Chennai.

¶21The Superintendent Archeologist, Archaeological Survey of India, Chennai Circle, Ministry of Culture, Government of India, Fort St, George, Chennai - 600 009. .. Respondents in WP.No.12958 of 2023

¶1The Revenue Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, Secretariat, Fort St., George, Chennai - 600 009.

¶2The Inspector General of Registration, No.100, Santhome High Road, Pattinapakkam, Chennai - 600 028.

¶3The Commissioner, Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department (HR & CE), Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600 034.

¶4The Joint Commissioner, Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department, (HR & CE), (Temple Lands), Headquarters, Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600 034.

¶5The Joint Commissioner, Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department, (HR & CE), Kanchipuram.

¶6The Executive Officer, Arulmighu Devaraja Perumal Temple, Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department, Kanchipuram.

¶7The District Collector, Chennai District, Chennai - 600 001.

¶8The District Collector, Kanchipuram District, Kanchipuram.

¶9The District Collector, Thiruvallur District, Thiruvallur.

¶10The District Collector, Chengalpet District, Chengalpet.

¶11The District Collector, Villupuram District, Villurpuram.

¶12The District Collector, Thiruvannamalai District, Thiruvannamalai.

¶13The District Collector, Vellore District, Vellore.

¶14The District Collector, Arakonam District, Arakonam.

¶15The District Registrar, Central Chennai, Chennai.

¶16The District Registrar, South Chennai, Chennai.

¶17The District Registrar, North Chennai, Registration Department, Chennai.

¶18The District Registrar, South Chennai Joint-II, Chennai.

¶19The District Registrar, Kanchipuram District, Kanchipuram.

¶20The District Registrar, Chengalpet District, Chengalpet.

¶21The District Registrar, Thiruvallur District, Thiruvallur.

¶22The Commissioner, Chennai City Police, Vepery, Chennai - 600 003.

¶23The Commissioner, Greater Chennai Corporation, Rippon Buildings, Chennai.

¶24The Commissioner, Tambaram Corporation, Tambaram, Chennai.

¶25The Commissioner, Kanchipuram Municipality, Kanchipuram.

¶26The Superintendent of Police, Kanchipuram District.

¶27The Superintendent Archeologist, Archaeological Survey of India, Chennai Circle, Ministry of Culture, Government of India, Fort St, George, Chennai - 600 009. .. Respondents in WP.No.12984 of 2023

Writ Petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to issue a Writ of Mandamus, directing the respondents herein to place all lands belonging to the aforementioned Temples under Section 22A of Registration Act (Refusal to Register) and cancel all fraudulent illegal Registrations including fraudulent Revenue Records in accordance with law as per Section 77 of the Registration Act and consequently direct the Respondents herein to Remove all encroachments & all illegal Unauthorised Superstructures in temple lands as per Section 78 of the Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowment Department Act within a responsible time frame in accordance with law. For Petitioner : Mr. Ravi, Senior Advocate for Mr. B. Jagannath, Petitioner - in - Person in all cases For R1, 7 to R12 : Mr. N. Naveen Kumar, Government Advocate in all cases For R3 to R6 : Mr. NRR. Arun Natarajan, Special Government Pleader in all cases For R13 : Ms. K. Aswini Devi, Standing Counsel for Corporation in all cases COMMON ORDER (Order of the Court was made by R. MAHADEVAN, J.)

The petitioner is a practising advocate. He claims himself to be an ardent devotee of Lord Kapaleeswara in Mylai Kapaleeswarar Temple. As a devotee and a person having interest in the temples across the State, as defined under Section 6 (15) (b) of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, he claims that he has locus standi to file this writ petition in public interest. In order to lend strength to his submission that the writ petition filed by him is maintainable, he placed reliance on the order dated 06.06.2011 passed by this Court in Writ Petition No. 8270 of 2011 in the case of V. Thiagarajan vs. State of Tamil Nadu. In that case, the petitioner therein is a devotee of the temple and he wants to challenge a commercial transaction, which is sought to be made on behalf of the temple. Therefore, it was held that the petitioner is a person having interest in the affairs of the temple and the writ petition filed by him is maintainable.

¶2Referring to the divine fame, glory and greatness of Lord Vadapalani Andavar Temple, Vadapalani; Parthasarathy Temple at Triplicane, as also the Kapaleeswarar Temple at Mylapore, the petitioner would submit that the said temples are in existence for more than 120 years. It is further stated that several thousands of Hindu devotees throng these temples on all days. The temples are situated in a bustling locality in the City of Chennai. The devotees have donated several tracts of lands as endowment to these temples over a period of century. The said temples are being administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department (in short, HR & CE Department) for more than 70 years. According to the petitioner, the lands donated to the temples stretch across the length and breadth of the city, beyond the boundaries of the erstwhile City of Madras. However, most of the lands have been alienated with the connivance of the registration and revenue authorities by the encroachers. It is also stated by the petitioner that mutation of false entries in the revenue records, registration through impersonation, double documentation, forgery, false patta, material alterations in revenue records, creation of fraudulent and forged patta, chitta adangal are rampant which resulted in usurping of valuable lands endowed to these temples. Therefore, in order to protect and safeguard the lands endowed to these temples, the present writ petitions have been filed.

¶3The learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner submits that Section 22-A of the Registration Act empowers the registering authority to refuse registration if the registration pertains to temple lands belongs to HR & CE Department. He has also invited the attention of this Court to Section 77-A of the Registration Act, which empowers the registering authority to cancel the documents either suo motu or on a complaint received from any person, if registration of a document is made in contravention to Section 22-A or 22-B of the Registration Act. The learned Senior counsel further submitted that this Court, on several occasion, held that if the lands belong to the temples, registration must be refused as there is a specific statutory bar under Section 22A of the Registration Act coupled with Section 34 of the HR & CE Act. However, the registering authority entertains registration of the documents pertaining to temple lands intentionally which resulted in alienation of huge tracts of lands belonging to these temples. Thus, according to the learned Senior counsel for the petitioner, several tracts of the temple lands have been encroached upon or alienated by land grabbers in connivance with the officials of the revenue and registration department and it has to be strictly prohibited. He also contends that unless periodical audit of the lands owned and endowed in favour of the temple is taken up, the encroachers could not be identified and the lands of the temples cannot be reclaimed. In this context, the petitioner has submitted a representation dated 01.03.2023 to the respondents and inspite of receipt of the same, no action has been taken and therefore, he prayed for issuing appropriate direction to consider the representation dated 01.03.2023 of the petitioner and to take action thereof.

¶4The learned Special Government Pleader appearing for the respondents 3 to 6 in all these writ petitions would submit that the averments in the affidavit filed in support of the writ petition are generic and non-specific. The petitioner has not furnished the description of the land(s), location of the land(s), extent of the land(s) or the person(s) who had unauthorisedly alienated the temple lands. Unless the petitioner furnishes specific details and/or particulars of the lands said to have been illegally alienated, the Department will not be in a position to act upon the same. The learned Special Government Pleader therefore submits that the writ petitions are devoid of any merits and they are liable to be dismissed.

¶5We have heard the learned Senior counsel appearing for the petitioner, the learned Special Government Pleader appearing for the respondents 3 to 6 and the other counsel appearing for the respective parties. We have also perused the materials placed on record.

¶6On going through the averments made in the affidavit filed in support of the writ petitions, we find that the petitioner has not furnished the particulars relating to the locality of the land (s), the survey number of the land, nature of encroachment, registration particulars etc. Unless these particulars are made available, the respondents cannot take up any action thereof. Even in the representation dated 01.03.2023 of the petitioner, these particulars are absent. Therefore, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, we direct the petitioner to submit a representation afresh furnishing the details, such as, description of the land(s) owned by the temples, extent of the land(s), locality of the land(s), particulars of registration etc. to the respondents 3 to 6, with copies marked to the other respondents including the Inspector General of Registration, Chennai, within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. On receipt of such representation from the petitioner, the respondents 3 to 6 shall take appropriate action with regard to removal of unauthorised lands and intimate the same to the registering authority as also to the respective Commissioner, Joint Commissioner or Executive officer (s) of the Temples within a period of four weeks thereafter. Upon receipt of such communication from the HR & CE department, the Registering authority shall act upon the same and cancel the documents, if any, registered earlier, in exercise of powers conferred under Section 22-A of the Registration Act, after following the procedures contemplated thereof, within a period of four weeks thereafter.

¶7With the above directions, these writ petitions are disposed of. No costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petitions are closed.

(R.M.D., J.) (P.D.A., J.)

10.11.2023 av/rsh Internet : Yes / No Index : Yes/No

¶1The Revenue Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, Secretariat, Fort St., George, Chennai - 600 009.

¶2The Inspector General of Registration, No.100, Santhome High Road, Pattinapakkam, Chennai - 600 028.

¶3The Commissioner, Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department (HR & CE), Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600 034.

¶4The Joint Commissioner, Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department, (HR & CE), (Temple Lands), Headquarters, Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600 034.

¶5The Assistant Commissioner, Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department, (HR & CE), Chennai District.

¶6The Executive Officer, Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department, (HR & CE), Arulmigu Vadaplani Murugan Temple, Chennai District.

¶7The District Collector, Chennai District, Chennai - 600 001.

¶8The District Registrar, Central Chennai, Chennai.

¶9The District Registrar, South Chennai, Chennai.

¶10The District Registrar, North Chennai, Chennai.

¶11The District Registrar, South Chennai Joint - II, Chennai.

¶12The Commissioner, Chennai City Police, Vepery, Chennai - 600 003.

¶13The Commissioner, Greater Chennai Corporation, Rippon Buildings, Chennai.

¶14The Commissioner, Tambaram Corporation, Tambaram, Chennai.

¶15The Superintendent Archeologist, Archaeological Survey of India, Chennai Circle, Ministry of Culture, Government of India, Fort St, George, Chennai - 600 009.

¶16The Executive Officer, Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department, (HR & CE), Arulmigu Sri Parthasarathy Perumal Vaishnavaite Divya Desam Temple, Chennai - 600 005.

¶17The District Collector, Kanchipuram District, Kanchipuram.

¶18The District Collector, Thiruvallur District, Thiruvallur.

¶19The District Collector, Chengalpet District, Chengalpet.

¶20The District Registrar, South Chennai Joint - II, Chennai.

¶21The District Registrar, Kanchipuram District, Kanchipuram.

¶22The District Registrar, Chengalpet District, Chengalpet.

¶23The District Registrar, Thiruvallur District, Thiruvallur.

¶24The Executive Officer, Arulmighu Devaraja Perumal Temple, Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department, Kanchipuram.

¶25The District Collector, Villupuram District, Villurpuram.

¶26The District Collector, Thiruvannamalai District, Thiruvannamalai.

¶27The District Collector, Vellore District, Vellore.

¶28The District Collector, Arakonam District, Arakonam.

¶29The Commissioner, Kanchipuram Municipality, Kanchipuram.

¶30The Superintendent of Police, Kanchipuram District. WPoNos.o12757,o12958o&o12984/2023o Roo .oMAHADEVAN,ooJ and Poo.D.oAUDIKESAVALUo,ooJ av/rsh WPoNos.o12757,o12958o& 12984/2023

10.11.2023