The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has imposed an interim restraint on the registration of documents relating to land said to be dedicated to the Srirangam Ranganathaswamy Temple.
The order followed a petition filed by Trichy resident Sampathkumar, who referred to documents signed in 1887 between Kodiyalam Vasudeva Iyengar and Kodiyalam Seshadri Iyengar. According to the plea, a trust was created to carry out religious services and charitable activities connected with the Srirangam temple and other temples.
The petitioner said the trust holds about 108 acres of donated land in areas including Thimmarayasamuthiram, Allur and Veereswaram, intended to generate income for these purposes. He argued that the lands cannot be treated as private property and sought a direction to prevent registration of any sale deeds.
A Division Bench comprising Justices C.V. Karthikeyan and R. Sakthivel observed that the lands were dedicated to the Srirangam temple. To ensure that no transactions take place, the court directed an interim ban on registration of such documents until November 5, covering the Srirangam, Trichy Joint-3, Musiri, Karur and Kulithalai sub-registrar offices.
