The court upheld the constitutional validity of Sections 78, 79(3) and 109 of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959, which provide for the eviction of encroachers from religious institution properties, and found that the provisions did not unreasonably discriminate or violate Article 14 of the Constitution.

These writ petitions challenge the constitutional validity of Sections 78, 79(3) and 109 of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959 (Act 22 of 1959) (for short, the HR & CE Act) as amended by Tamil Nadu Act 39 of 1996 as well as by Act 28 of 2003 as ultra vires the Constitution. For the sake of convenience, sections 78, 79 and 109 of the HR & CE Act, as amended, may be extracted below:-

Section 78 : Encroachment by persons on land or building belonging to charitable or religious institution or endowment and the eviction of encroachers.-(1) Where the Assistant Commissioner having jurisdiction either suo motu or upon a complaint made by the trustee has reason to believe that any person has encroached upon (hereinafter in this section referred to as encroacher”) any land, building, tank, well, spring or watercourse or any space wherever situation belonging to the religious institution or endowment (hereinafter referred to as the property”), he shall report the fact together with relevant particulars to the Joint Commissioner having jurisdiction over the division in which the religious institution or endowment is situated.

Explanation.- For the purpose of this section, the expression encroacher” shall mean any person who unauthorisedly occupies any tank, well, spring or water-course or any property and to include-

(a) any person who is in occupation of property without the approval of the competent

authority (sanctioning lease or mortgage or licence) and

.(b) any person who continues to remain in the property after the expiry or termination or cancellation of the lease, mortgage or licence granted to him.

.(2) Where, on a perusal of the report received by him under sub-section (1), the Joint Commissioner finds that there is a prima facie case of encroachment, he shall cause to be served upon the encroacher a notice specifying the particulars of the encroachment and calling on him to show cause before a certain date why an order requiring him to remove the encroachment before the date specified on the notice should not be made. A copy of the notice shall also be sent to the trustees of the religious institution or endowment concerned.

.(3) The notice referred to in sub-section (2) shall be served in such manner as may be prescribed.

.(4) Where after considering the objections, if any, of the encroacher received during the period specified in the notice referred to in sub-section (2) and after conducting such inquiry as may be prescribed, the Joint Commissioner is satisfied that there has been an encroachment, he may by order and for reasons to be recorded, require the encroacher to remove the encroachment and deliver possession of the property (land or building or space) encroached upon to the trustee before the date specified in such order.

.(5) During the pendency of the proceeding, the Joint Commissioner shall order the encroacher to deposit such amount as may be specified by him in consideration of the use and occupation of the properties in question in the manner prescribed.

79. Mode of eviction on failure of removal of the encroachment as directed by the Joint Commissioner.- Where within the period specified in the order under sub-section (4) of section 78, the encroacher has not removed the encroachment and has not vacated the property, the Assistant Commissioner having jurisdiction over the division may remove the encroachment and obtain possession of the property encroached upon, taking such police assistance as may be necessary. Any Police Officer whose help is required for this purpose shall render necessary help to the Assistant Commissioner.

(2) Nothing in sub-section (1) shall prevent any person aggrieved by the order of the Joint Commissioner under sub-section (4) of section 78 from instituting a suit in a Court to establish that the religious institution or endowment has no title to the property.

Provided that no Civil Court shall take cognizance of any suit instituted after