Madras High Court to hear PIL on Karur Devadanam land issue
A public interest litigation petition has been filed in the Madras High Court alleging that the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department has given
A public interest litigation petition has been filed in the Madras High Court alleging that the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department has given away 3,084.95 acres of temple lands to 3,390 individuals in Karur district by lifting the ban on registration of those properties. The PIL plea has been listed for admission before the first Division Bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan on Monday (July 27, 2026). P. Bhaskar, a cable TV operator from Guduvancheri in Chengalpattu district, has filed the case through his counsel B. Jagannath.
According to the petitioner, Devadanam lands were properties bequeathed/endowed to Hindu temples by the erstwhile kings. However, temple servants had been allowed to be in occupation of those lands and cultivate them. Over the years, the hereditary occupants had been granted conditional ryotwari patta. Contending that the title must always remain with the temples concerned and that the occupants could never be allowed to alienate the properties, the petitioner said, by virtue of Section 22A of the Registration Act, the Registration department was empowered to refuse to registration of documents related to those lands. However, on July 9, the Karur Collector had recommended the lifting of the registration ban with respect to 3,084.95 acres of lands belonging to Pugazhimalai Balasubramaniam Temple (214.29 acres), Karur Kalyanapasupatheeswarar Temple (204.52 acres), Kuppusipalayam Raveeswarar Temple (132.49 acres), and Venjamangudalur Vikrutheeswarar Temple (2,533.65 acres), the petitioner said.
Claiming the lands were spread over 15 villages and identified with 471 survey numbers, the petitioner said the Collector’s recommendation was forwarded to the HR&CE Commissioner who, on the same day, passed an order lifting the registration ban imposed on 3,084.95 acres in occupation of 3,390 ryotwari pattadars. During Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s visit to Karur on July 10, a request was made by former Minister M.R. Vijayabhaskar to give away those lands to the hereditary occupants, and it was projected as if the Chief Minister acceded to his demand immediately, the petitioner said.
“It is reliably learnt that non-Hindus in considerable numbers are beneficiaries and that the Hindu temple lands are being gifted by this government to non-Hindus, which hurts the religious sentiments of the Hindus. This is clearly a breach of faith and is against the concept of secularism,” the petitioner’s affidavit said.
The BriefWire