V.Vijayabaskar, v. The Commissioner,
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 25.06.2024
CORAM
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M. SUNDAR AND THE HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE K. GOVIDARAJAN THILAKAVADI & W.M.P. No. 18191 of 2024 V. Vijayabaskar ..Petitioner Vs.
1.
The Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Administration Department, Uthama Gandhi Road, Nungambakkam, Chennai - 34.
2.
The Joint Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Administration Department, Nagapattinam District.
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3.
The Executive Officer, Karpakanathaswamy Temple, Karpakanatharakulam, Thiruthuraipoondi Taluk, Thiruvarur District.
4.
P.Shanmugavel 5.
The District Collector, Collectorate, Tiruvarur District, Tiruvarur.
6.
The Revenue Divisional Officer, RDO Office, Mannargudi.
7.
The Commissioner of Municipality Thiruthuraipoondi Muncipality, Thiruthuraipoondi and Post, Tiruvarur District.
(R5 to R7 suo impleaded by order dated 25.06.2024 in W.P. No. 16580 of 2024 by MSJ & KGTJ) ..Respondents Prayer:
Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for issue of a Writ of Mandamus forbearing respondents 1 to 3 from taking coercive action against the petitioner occupation in S.No. 168/3 to an extent of 200 sq.ft, Karpanakanatharakulam, Thiruthuraipoondi Taluk, Thiruvarur District without following due process of law. For Petitioner ::
Mr.G. Mohammed Aseef 2\18
For Respondents ::
Mr.S. Ravichandran, Additional Government Pleader For R1 & R2 Mr.K.M. Subramanian fo rR4 Mr.A. Selvendran, Special Government Pleader for R5 to R7
O R D E R
(Made by M. SUNDAR,J.) Captioned 'Writ Petition' ['WP' for the sake of brevity] pertains to land admeasuring 200 sq.ft or thereabouts comprised in 'S.No. 168/3 in Karpanakanatharakulam, Thiruthuraipoondi Taluk, Thiruvarur District' (hereinafter 'said land' for the sake of brevity, convenience and clarity). 2.
Mr.G. Mohammed Aseef, learned counsel for writ petitioner, who is before us, adverting to paragraph No.3 of the writ affidavit reiterated that said land belongs to a temple, namely, 'Karpakanathaswamy Temple' (hereinafter 'said temple' for the sake of convenience and clarity). To be noted, the positive averment in this regard in paragraph No.3 of the writ affidavit reads as follows: '......The above mentioned land is a temple land i.e., 3\18
Karpakanathaswamy Temple.'
3.
The complaint of the writ petitioner in the case on hand is that the 'Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department' ( 'TN HR & CE Dept.' for the sake of brevity, convenience and clarity) has fixed 30.06.2024 as the final date for eviction while proceedings under Section 78 of ' Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959 (Act 22 of 1989)' [hereinafter ' TN HR & CE Act' for the sake of brevity, convenience and clarity] is underway. 4.
Issue notice.
5.
Mr. S. Ravichandran, learned Additional Government Pleader (TN HR & CE Dept.) accepts notice for respondents 1 to 3 and Mr.K.M. Subramanian (Enrolment No. MS 980/87, Madras High Court Advocates' Association, High Court, Madras) having office at No.152, Thambu Chetty Street, Parrys, Chennai accepts notice for 4th respondent (private respondent).
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6.
Owing to the limited scope of captioned WP, the main WP is taken up with the consent of counsel on both sides. 7.
From the submissions made, we find that writ petitioner and 4th respondent live in the neighbourhood. 4th respondent had earlier filed a WP in W.P. No 24729 of 2022 with a prayer to direct the revenue officials i.e., District Collector, Thiruvarur District, Revenue Divisional Officer, Mannargudi and Commissioner of Municipality, Thiruthuraipoondi Municipality to remove the encroachment stated to have been made by writ petitioner in the said land. This writ petition came to be disposed of by another Hon'ble Division Bench in and by order dated 22.11.2022 and a scanned reproduction of the same is as follows: 5\18
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8.
Pursuant to the aforementioned order, 2nd respondent before us has issued a notice dated 21.11.2022 bearing Reference M.P. No. 295/2022/C.2 under Section 78 of TN HR & CE Act. 9.
It is submitted that pending 78 proceedings, some quantum of rent qua said land was agreed between said temple and writ petitioner. It is also admitted that writ petitioner defaulted in payment of rent but there is no material to demonstrate that there is any lease much less any subsisting lease. In other words, though a contention has been raised that writ petitioner is a lessee under the said temple, there are no rental receipts, lease deed and no material to support this contention. 10.
In the aforementioned circumstances, 4th respondent before us filed a second WP being W.P. No. 2145 of 2024 with a prayer to direct revenue authorities namely, District Collector, Revenue Divisional Officer, Director of Municipal Administration, Commissioner of Municipality, Tahsildar, as well as Jurisdictional Joint Commissioner of TN 10\18
HR & CE Department and Executive Officer of said temple to evict the writ petitioner (V. Vijayabaskar) and another (Ms. Periyanayaki) from what according to 4th respondent is public utility road. (To be noted, this writ also pertains to same survey No.168/3, Karpanakanatharakulam, Thiruthuraipoondi Taluk, Thiruvarur District) 11.
The second WP filed by 4th respondent being W.P. No. 2145 of 2024 came to be disposed of by another Hon'ble Division Bench in and by order dated 22.04.2024, the relevant portion of which reads as follows:
'Heard Mr.K.M. Subrahmaniam, learned counsel for the petitioner; Mr.A. Edwin Prabakar, learned State Government Pleader, assisted by Mr.K. Karthik Jegannath, learned Government Advocate for respondents 1 to 3 and 5; Mr.D. Ravichandran, learned counsel for the fourth respondent; and Mr.N.R.R. Arun Natarajan, learned Special Government Pleader (HR &CE) for respondents 6 and 7.
2.
Learned Special Government Pleader (HR & CE) submits that pursuant to the order of this Court dated 22.11.2022 passed in W.P. No. 24729 of 2022, the HR & CE Department has already taken action under Section 78 of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959 (for short, "the 11\18
Act of 1959") in respect of Survey No. 168/3, 4 and 5. Earlier, the date of eviction was fixed on 19.3.2024 and now the final date is fixed on 30.6.2024.
3.
As action is already taken for eviction under Section 78 of the Act of 1959 and the next date is fixed on 30.6.2024, at present, no orders are necessary. 4.
The writ petition, accordingly, is disposed of. There shall be no order as to costs. Consequently, W.M.P. No. 2302 of 2024 is closed.'
12.
It is in the aforementioned order that it has been recorded that the final date for eviction has been fixed as 30.06.2024 vide Section 78 proceedings under TN HR & CE Act.
13.
Mr.S. Ravichandran, learned Additional Government Pleader, on instructions, submits that 30.06.2024 is not eviction date but the next hearing date qua 78 proceedings, which are now underway before 2nd respondent before us.
14.
We are informed that 4th respondent before us is also party to 78 proceedings.
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15.
In the hearing today, Mr.K.M. Subramanian, learned counsel for 4th respondent contended that said land was temple land at one point of time i.e., land belonging to the said temple but was subsequently converted into a public utility road and that it vests in the local body namely, Commissioner of Thiruthuraipoondi Municipality. 16.
We make it clear that it is open to 4th respondent to raise this plea in the 78 proceedings as we are informed that 4th respondent is also a party to 78 proceedings now underway before 2nd respondent. We also make it clear that 4th respondent can now raise this plea on 30.06.2024, being the next hearing date and raise this plea. 17.
If the contention of 4th respondent that the said land is a public utility road is the correct obtaining position, then encroachment has to be removed by the local body.
18.
The pivotal point is, writ petitioner has fairly admitted 13\18
that said land does not belong to him and that it is not a private land either. The question is whether it is temple land or public utility road, which vests in the local municipality. Either way, it is an encroachment and the same deserves to be removed, albeit by adhering to due process of law under the statute concerned.
19.
In the captioned WP, we find that writ petitioner has not added revenue authorities as respondents. We deem it appropriate to add revenue authorities as respondents. Therefore, the District Collector, Collectorate, Tiruvarur District, Tiruvarur, the Revenue Divisional Officer, RDO Office, Mannargudi, the Commissioner of Municipality, Thiruthuraipoondi Muncipality, Thiruthuraipoondi and Post, Tiruvarur District are added as respondents 5 to 7 respectively. Registry to carry out necessary and consequential amendments in the case file before uploading/ before issuing any certified order copy.
20.
In the light of the narrative thus far, all the official 14\18
respondents are directed to carry the eviction proceedings to its logical end and conclude the same as expeditiously as their respective businesses would permit but in any event within four weeks from today i.e., by 23.07.2024. 21.
We make it clear that right of appeal, revision or any other right of writ petitioner will stand preserved. 22.
Captioned WP is disposed of in the aforesaid manner with aforementioned simple directives. Consequently, captioned WMP is disposed of as closed. There shall be no order as to costs. (M.S.J.) (K.G.T.J.) nv 25.06.2024 P.S.I: Upload forthwith P.S.II:All concerned (including the Registry of Madras High Court) to act forthwith on the uploaded soft copy of this proceedings as uploaded in the official website of this Court. To be noted, the soft copies uploaded in the official website of this Court are water marked, besides being QR coded.
P.S.III:
Registry to communicate this order to (i) The District Collector, Collectorate, Tiruvarur District, Tiruvarur.
(ii) The Revenue Divisional Officer, RDO Office, Mannargudi.
(iii) The Commissioner of Municipality Thiruthuraipoondi Muncipality, 15\18
Thiruthuraipoondi and Post, Tiruvarur District.
P.S.IV:
Though captioned WP is disposed of, Registry to list captioned WP under the cause list caption 'FOR REPORTING COMPLIANCE'
on 26.07.2024.) To 1.
The Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Administration Department, Uthama Gandhi Road, Nungambakkam, Chennai - 34.
2.
The Joint Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Administration Department, Nagapattinam District.
3.
The Executive Officer, Karpakanathaswamy Temple, Karpakanatharakulam, Thiruthuraipoondi Taluk, Thiruvarur District.
4.
The District Collector, Collectorate, Tiruvarur District, Tiruvarur.
5.
The Revenue Divisional Officer, RDO Office, Mannargudi.
6.
The Commissioner of Municipality Thiruthuraipoondi Muncipality, Thiruthuraipoondi and Post, 16\18
Tiruvarur District.
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M. SUNDAR,J.
AND K. GOVINDARAJAN THILAKAVADI,J.
nv & W.M.P. No. 18191 of 2024 25.06.2024 18\18