B.Saravanan v. The Government Of Tamilnadu
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED : 29.01.2025
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE M.SUNDAR and THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE K.RAJASEKAR B.Saravanan ... Petitioner Vs.
1.The Government of Tamil Nadu represented by its Secretary, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments, Fort St. George, Secretariat, Chennai - 600 009.
2.The Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, 119, Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600 034.
3.The District Collector, Cuddalore District, Cuddalore.
4.The Joint Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, Cuddalore.
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5.The Commissioner, Chidambaram Municipality, Chidambaram, Cuddalore District.
6.The Assistant Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, Cuddalore.
7.The Fit Person, Arulmigu Gurunamashivaya Moorthi Mutt, Chidambaram - 608 001.
Cuddalore.
8.The Tahsildar, Chidambaram Taluk, Chidambaram, Cuddalore District.
9.The Inspector of Police, Chidambaram Town Police Station, Cuddalore District.
10.V.Pasavaraj, Ex-Trustee, Arulmigu Gurunamashivaya Moorthi Mutta, Chidambaram - 608 001.
Cuddalore.
11.V.Vanchinathan 12.A.Radhakrishnan .. Respondents Petition filed under Article 226 of The Constitution of India praying for grant of time for a period of six months to comply the order passed by this Court in W.P.No.12358 of 2022 dated 30.09.2022. Page Nos.2/15
For Petitioner :
Mr.R.Sagadevan for Mr.V.Udayakumar For Respondents :
Mr.T.K.Saravanan, Government Advocate for R1, R3, R5, R8 and R9 Mr.N.R.R.Arun Natarajan, Special Government Pleader for R2, R4, R6 and R7 Mr.Avinash Wadhwani for R10 Mr.T.Saravanan for R11
ORDER
[Order of the Court was made by M.SUNDAR, J.,] Captioned 'Writ Miscellaneous Petition' (hereinafter 'WMP' for the sake of brevity) has been filed pursuant to liberty granted to the petitioner by Hon'ble Supreme Court vide order dated 12.12.2024 in Petition for Special Leave to Appeal (C) No.24285 of 2022. A scanned reproduction of the order of Hon'ble Supreme Court is as follows: Page Nos.3/15
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2. Aforementioned order of Hon'ble Supreme Court speaks for itself and it will suffice to write that captioned WMP is predicated primarily on paragraph 3 of the order. To be noted, prayer in the captioned WMP is for grant of further time (six months) for complying Page Nos.6/15
with orders of this Court dated 30.092022 in W.P.No.12358 of 2022.
3. Issue notice.
4. Mr.T.K.Saravanan, learned Government Advocate accepts notice for R1, R3, R5, R8 and R9, Mr.N.R.R.Arun Natarajan, learned Special Government Pleader accepts notice for R2, R4, R6 and R7, Mr.Avinash Wadhwani, learned counsel accepts notice for R10.
5. As regards R11, Mr.T.Saravanan, learned counsel is before us on VC (Video Conferencing) platform. To be noted, this is a hybrid hearing, which is a regular/routine/daily feature in this Court.
6. Considering the nature of the prayer, other facts and circumstances and also owing to captioned WMP being pursuant to aforereferred orders of Hon'ble Supreme Court, R10 to R12 (private respondents) who are whistle blowers and in the nature of informants, really do not have a say. Therefore, we took up the captioned WMP though no one accepted notice for R12.
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7. Mr.N.R.R.Arun Natarajan, learned Special Government Pleader for 'Tamilnadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department' [hereinafter 'TN HR&CE Dept.' for the sake of brevity] submitted that the property belong to a Mutt under 'The Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Act, 1959 (Act 22 of 1959)' [hereinafter 'TN HR & CE Act' for the sake of brevity] i.e., 'Arulmigu Gurunamashivaya Moorthi Mutt' (hereinafter 'said Mutt' for the sake of brevity). Learned State counsel went on to submit that there are nine persons against whom proceedings under Section 78 of TN HR & CE Act were initiated which culminated in aforesaid 30.09.2022 order of this Court made in W.P.No.12358 of 2022 and the other eight have given a written undertaking saying that they would vacate their respective portions/properties in the period between 13.02.2025 and 17.02.2025. In other words, 17.02.2025 is the cut-off date. Learned State counsel has placed before us the written undertaking of other persons qua Section 78 proceedings and a scanned reproduction of the same is as follows:
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8. In the light of the narrative thus far, we are reminded of the age old adage 'sauce to goose is sauce to gander too' and therefore we write that time for the writ petitioner to comply with the order of this Court dated 30.09.2022 in W.P.No.12358 of 2022 is granted till 17.02.2025. Two other points that buttress this time frame are (i) Hon'ble Supreme Court order is dated 12.12.2024 and WMP petitioner has already gained 7 weeks and (ii) learned counsel for WMP petitioner neither pointed out any provision of law for enlargment of time qua TN Page Nos.12/15
HR & CE Act nor submitted that there is any entitlement in law.
9. In all other respects, parties will stand governed by the aforesaid earlier order of this Court and obviously order of Hon'ble Supreme Court dated 12.12.2024 in Special Leave to Appeal (C) No.24285 of 2022.
10. Captioned WMP is disposed of in the aforesaid manner. There shall be no order as to costs.
(M.S.,J.) (K.R.S.,J.) 29.01.2025 Index : Yes / No mmi To 1.The Secretary to Government, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments, Fort St. George, Secretariat, Chennai - 600 009.
2.The Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, Page Nos.13/15
119, Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600 034.
3.The District Collector, Cuddalore District, Cuddalore.
4.The Joint Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, Cuddalore.
5.The Commissioner, Chidambaram Municipality, Chidambaram, Cuddalore District.
6.The Assistant Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, Cuddalore.
7.The Fit Person, Arulmigu Gurunamashivaya Moorthi Mutta, Chidambaram - 608 001.
Cuddalore.
8.The Tahsildar, Chidambaram Taluk, Chidambaram, Cuddalore District.
9.The Inspector of Police, Chidambaram Town Police Station, Cuddalore District.
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M.SUNDAR, J., and K.RAJASEKAR, J., mmi 29.01.2025 Page Nos.15/15