The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department to publish details of temple-owned lands on its official website, making the information easily accessible to the public.
The order came while hearing an appeal filed by the management of an educational trust in Karur district. The trust runs a school at Kadapparai and was using land belonging to the Vennamalai Balasubramania Swamy Temple as a playground and for parking vehicles visiting a marriage hall run by the trust. The trust claimed it had obtained a sub-lease from the legal heirs of an individual and challenged an HR&CE order that increased the lease amount.
A single judge had earlier held that, under HR&CE law, temple land cannot be leased for more than five years without the Commissioner’s approval, and such approval cannot be granted without prior government permission. Since the trust had obtained a 30-year sub-lease without any such approvals, the lease was found invalid and the petition was dismissed.
Hearing the appeal, a division bench of Justices P. Velmurugan and P. Pugalendhi upheld the dismissal, observing that the land belongs to a religious institution and that the appellant had no lawful lease, amounting to illegal use.
The bench issued guidelines directing HR&CE to publish land extent, lease period, lessees and lease amounts on its website, so interested parties can participate in public auctions and improve revenue. It also instructed the department to strictly follow the law, ensure temple properties are leased only through public auction as per rules, and initiate steps to recover the land from the appellant.
