Supreme Court stays HC order in favour of Srirangam temple administration in property dispute case

The dispute had risen after the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple administration claimed ownership rights over about 329 acres of land around the temple as per an old Title Deed 1027

Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple in Trichy

The Supreme Court has stayed an order of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court ruling in favour of the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple administration in the property ownership dispute between the temple and a section of residents in Srirangam.

A Bench comprising Justice M. M. Sundresh, Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice S. V. N. Bhatti ordered issue of notice and granted stay while passing orders on a Special Leave Petition filed by a group of affected residents, who had organised themselves as Srirangam Adimanai Urimai Meetpu Kuzhu last year.

The High Court, in its order on March 3, 2023, had ruled in favour of the temple management in the dispute, while disposing of a batch of Special Tribunal Appeals against the order passed by Inam Estate Abolition Tribunal, Tiruchi.

The dispute arose after the temple management claimed ownership rights over about 329 acres of land around the temple as per an old Title Deed 1027.

The property owners claim that they purchased the lands and pattas had been issued through settlements reached at different point of time in the past. They maintained that as per the Inam Fair Register of 1864 only land within the first four prakaras around the temple was treated as temple poramboke and the land between the fourth and seventh prakaras was classified as village site poramboke.

The property owners have been complaining that they were facing much hardship as they were not able to sell or pledge their properties ever since the temple raised the claim since 2004. In 2022, the temple administration issued notices to residents of several properties around the temple asking them to vacate or face criminal action if they failed to do so. The notices issued reiterated the temple’s claim to the properties under Title Deed 1027.

Following the High Court verdict last year, the affected residents had formed the Srirangam Adimanai Urimai Meetpu Kuzhu and decided to move the Supreme Court. S. Raghunathan, Executive president of the committee, said that the properties of various mutts were also located in the disputed area and efforts were on to coordinate with and persuade their administrators to implead in the case.

The Srirangam Nagara Nala Sangam was supporting the cause of the affected residents, said its president Suresh Venkatachalam.