Court orders to return 11 acres of temple land illegally occupied by Christian school

• Judgment rendered by the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court
• Encroachment by Amali Convent School in Tirunelveli District

(Credits:OpIndia)

Madurai (Tamil Nadu) – The land belonging to the Arulmigu Papanasaswamy Temple in Ambasamudram Taluka, District Tirunelveli, was leased by a convent school for decades. Subsequently, an unauthorised structure was erected on the land. Despite the Commissioner’s order to demolish the building and return the temple land, the Convent school management disregarded it. The school challenged the Commissioner’s decision by filing a petition in the High Court. Recently, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court affirmed the Commissioner’s ruling. The Amali Convent has now been instructed to demolish the unauthorised structure and return the land to the temple.

The Court order states,

1. The petitioner in this case, the management of Amali Convent, is attempting to justify its position by asserting that returning the land would adversely affect the academics of the students. If that was the case, why has the school not complied with the Commissioner’s demolition order issued in 2013 over the past decade ?

2. However, we are giving the school a deadline of 31st March 2024 i.e. the end of the semester. After that they must shift the school elsewhere.

Chronology of events spanning the past few decades

According to the Court records, the petitioner Amali Convent had leased 44 acres of land consisting of four pieces of 11 acres each, from the Pillayan Arthasaam Kattalai Temple that comes under Arulmigu Papanasaswamy Temple.

Year 1985: There was a dispute between the school and the temple authorities, leading to a petition from the temple authorities to get the land back. The District Munsif Court at Ambasamudram dismissed the initial petition. An appeal was filed in the Sub Court at Tenkari in 1985. During the first appeal, both parties came to a settlement under which the Amali Convent returned 33 acres of the land but kept remaining 11 acres. As per the settlement agreement, Amali Convent was to pay Rs 2,000 as the land’s rent per year and use it only for agriculture purposes.

Year 2012: Amali Convent built a large school building on this land. Despite the temple’s complaint, the school disregarded the matter. Consequently, the temple committee lodged a complaint with the Commissioner of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, urging the restoration of 11 acres to the temple. The school argued this, but the Court rejected their argument. The school also offered to buy the land from the temple authorities.

December 2023: The Court noted that as the petitioner offered to buy the land, it has enough resources to construct the building elsewhere and run the school. When the petitioner argued that evicting the land would hamper the education of the students, the Court criticised the petitioner for using the students as a ‘smoke screen

Editorial Perspectives

• Stringent action should be taken against the Christian school management, which misused the land belonging to Hindu temple
• Hindu temples are not Dharamshalas where anyone can come, encroach their land and build anything on it. Hindu temples are sacred structures that disseminate the principles of the Deities to the entire society. It is crucial for local Hindus to remain vigilant to prevent their misuse in such ways !
• Additionally, local Hindus should investigate the number of Hindu students who may have been converted by this school over the past few decades