The Madras High Court on Friday told the Department of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) that every inch of temple land either under encroachment or under illegal occupation of lessees even after the end of lease period, without the rent having been paid, must be recovered at the earliest.
Justices R. Mahadevan and P.D. Audikesavalu directed Special Government Pleader (HR&CE) N.R.R. Arun Natarajan to ensure that the Department put in place an effective mechanism by appointing officials at every taluk to identify the temple land under illegal occupation and retrieve it.
They said all Joint Commissioners of the Department must be asked to attend to the issue on priority and warned that the court itself would order creation of such a mechanism if the Department did not pull its socks up and show progress.
Referring to data having shown that around 75,000 acres of temple land was under encroachment, the judges wanted to know by next week the extent of land that the Department had been able to retrieve so far. “We want action on the ground,” Justice Mahadevan told the SGP.
He said the Department should also take the assistance of the revenue officials, beginning from the Tahsildar to the Revenue Secretary, for retrieving the temple land. There was no use in displaying the rent defaulters list on temple notice boards, the officials must explain the inaction on their part, too, he added.
Justice Audikesavalu suggested that the bank account details of temple land lessees be obtained by the Department and the rental arrears deducted automatically from their accounts like how banks do while granting loans. Such a mechanism might lead to some accountability and prompt payment, he said.
The suggestions were made when temple activists Rangarajan Narasimhan and R. Venkataraman highlighted that many temple properties were under encroachment and accused Department officials of not showing any interest in retrieving the land.
