V.Chandrasekar v. the District Collector
Case brief
What is this about?
Encroachment on temple land S.No. 15/23, Thookanampatti Village, Mettur Taluk, Salem District; writ of mandamus under Article 226; Arulmigu Meenakshi Sokkanathar Thirukoil; Executive Officer (Incharge); Tahsildar enquiry into temple ownership versus government poramboku land; register under Section 29, HR&CE Act 1956; survey and determination of encroachment; proceedings under Sections 68 and 69 of the Act; Assistant Commissioner proceedings dated 21.06.2024; patta not issued in favour of temple; respondents 6 to 9 (Jayapal, Palanisamy, Rajendran, Poonkodi) rights kept open; sixteen-week compliance window; District Collector Salem; Revenue Divisional Office Mettur; High Court of Judicature at Madras; Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy.
What did the court decide?
Writ petition disposed of with directions in lieu of an outright mandamus: (i) the fifth respondent (Executive Officer, Arulmigu Meenakshi Sokkanathar Thirukoil) to produce documents claiming temple ownership before the third respondent (Tahsildar, Mettur Taluk); (ii) the Tahsildar to conduct an enquiry after notice to the Executive Officer, the petitioner and respondents 6 to 9, considering the register under Section 29 of the HR&CE Act, 1956, and conclude whether the land is temple property or government poramboku; (iii) a survey to determine the encroachment; (iv) if the land is temple property, the Executive Officer may take permissible proceedings under Sections 68 and 69 of the Act; if government property, the Tahsildar to decide on and carry out removal of objectionable encroachment in the manner known to law; (v) rights of respondents 6 to 9 left undecided with defences open; (vi) completion within sixteen weeks of receipt of the web copy of the order; (vii) no costs.