Opposition spreading false information about fraudulent registration of Palani mutt land, says HR & CE Minister Ramesh

Published 14 July 2026 · local

Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Ramesh on Tuesday alleged that the Opposition parties were spreading false information against him on social media by

Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Ramesh on Tuesday alleged that the Opposition parties were spreading false information against him on social media by linking him to individuals who had fraudulently registered 1.4 acres of land at the foothills of Palani belonging to the Dhandayuthapani Swami Mutt. A departmental inquiry had been initiated against a Registration Department official in connection with the registration of the land, he said. Addressing a press conference along with Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration D. Logesh Tamilselvan at the Secretariat in Chennai, Mr. Ramesh denied having any connection with those individuals and said he had lodged a complaint with the Greater Chennai Police against those spreading “false information”. He said the Joint Commissioner, HR&CE Department, Palani, had written to the District Registrar and the Sub-Registrar on September 15, 2025, November 16, 2025, December 25, 2025, and March 27, 2026, directing them not to register the said land.

On March 27, 2026, an attempt was made to register the land with a fraudulent sale deed. On April 1, 2026, the Registration Department issued a refusal slip saying the land could not be registered. Using that refusal slip, the individuals approached court and obtained an order on April 10, 2026, directing that the documents submitted for registration be verified and, if found valid, registration be considered within a week, Mr. Ramesh said. With the court order, the individuals approached the Sub-Registrar’s Office on July 3, 2026. The previous day (July 2), the Joint Commissioner, HR&CE, Palani, had written to the District Registrar asking that the land not be registered. Based on that communication, the registration was kept pending, the Minister said. However, “without knowing the full background of the case”, Justin Manikandan, who was the Sub-Registrar (in-charge) as the regular Sub-Registrar was on leave, registered the document on July 6, 2026.

Immediately, HR&CE officials informed the Registration Department that the registration was illegal, and steps were initiated to cancel it. Justin Manikandan was placed under suspension, and a case was registered against the individuals who had fraudulently registered the land, Mr. Ramesh said. Tamilselvan acknowledged that there was a mistake on the part of the Sub-Registrar (in-charge) in registering the land, and a departmental inquiry had been initiated against him. To a question on the recent lifting of the ban on the registration of title deeds for 3,085 acres of ‘Inam’ land granted as ‘ryotwari pattas’ under the Tamil Nadu Minor Inam (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1963, in different parts of Karur district, which had been under a prohibition imposed by the HR&CE Department, Mr. Ramesh said, “False propaganda is being spread by people like [BJP State president] Nainar Nagenthran that temple land has been handed over to encroachers.” Under the Act, ‘ryotwari pattas’ were granted to farmers cultivating the land, based on a comprehensive survey conducted between 1963 and 1967.