IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS DATED: 25.06.2024 CORAM THE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE M. SUNDAR AND THE HON’BLE MRS. JUSTICE K. GOVIDARAJAN THILAKAVADI W.P. No. 16580 of 2024 &

W.M.P. No. 18191 of 2024 V. Vijayabaskar ..Petitioner Vs.

1. The Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Administration Department, Uthama Gandhi Road, Nungambakkam, Chennai – 34.

2. The Joint Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Administration Department, Nagapattinam District.

3. The Executive Officer, Karpakanathaswamy Temple, Karpakanatharakulam, Thiruthuraipoondi Taluk, Thiruvarur District.

4. P.Shanmugavel

5. The District Collector, Collectorate, Tiruvarur District, Tiruvarur.

6. The Revenue Divisional Officer, RDO Office, Mannargudi.

7. The Commissioner of Municipality Thiruthuraipoondi Muncipality, Thiruthuraipoondi and Post, Tiruvarur District.

(R5 to R7 suo impleaded by order dated

25.06.2024 in W.P. No. 16580 of 2024 by MSJ & KGTJ) ..Respondents Prayer: Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for issue of a Writ of Mandamus forbearing respondents 1 to 3 from taking coercive action against the petitioner occupation in S.No. 168/3 to an extent of 200 sq.ft, Karpanakanatharakulam, Thiruthuraipoondi Taluk, Thiruvarur District without following due process of law.

For Petitioner :: Mr.G. Mohammed Aseef For Respondents :: Mr.S. Ravichandran, Additional Government Pleader For R1 & R2 Mr.K.M. Subramanian fo rR4 Mr.A. Selvendran, Special Government Pleader for R5 to R7

O R D E R

(Made by M. SUNDAR,J.

Captioned 'Writ Petition' ['WP' for the sake of brevity] pertains to land admeasuring 200 sq.ft or thereabouts comprised in ‘S.No. 168/3 in Karpanakanatharakulam, Thiruthuraipoondi Taluk, Thiruvarur District’

(hereinafter 'said land' for the sake of brevity, convenience and clarity).

2. Mr.G. Mohammed Aseef, learned counsel for writ petitioner, who is before us, adverting to paragraph No.3 of the writ affidavit reiterated that said land belongs to a temple, namely, ‘Karpakanathaswamy Temple’ (hereinafter 'said temple' for the sake of convenience and clarity). To be noted, the positive averment in this regard in paragraph No.3 of the writ affidavit reads as follows:

‘……The above mentioned land is a temple land i.e., Karpakanathaswamy Temple.’

3. The complaint of the writ petitioner in the case on hand is that the 'Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department' ( 'TN HR & CE Dept.' for the sake of brevity, convenience and clarity) has fixed 30.06.2024 as the final date for eviction while proceedings under Section 78 of ' Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959 (Act 22 of 1989)' [hereinafter ' TN HR & CE Act'

for the sake of brevity, convenience and clarity] is underway.

4. Issue notice.

5. Mr. S. Ravichandran, learned Additional Government Pleader (TN HR & CE Dept.) accepts notice for respondents 1 to 3 and Mr.K.M. Subramanian (Enrolment No. MS 980/87, Madras High Court Advocates’ Association, High Court, Madras) having office at No.152, Thambu Chetty Street, Parrys, Chennai accepts notice for 4^th respondent (private respondent).

6. Owing to the limited scope of captioned WP, the main WP is taken up with the consent of counsel on both sides.

7. From the submissions made, we find that writ petitioner and 4^th respondent live in the neighbourhood. 4^th respondent had earlier filed a WP in W.P. No 24729 of 2022 with a prayer to direct the revenue officials i.e., District Collector, Thiruvarur District, Revenue Divisional Officer, Mannargudi and Commissioner of Municipality, Thiruthuraipoondi Municipality to remove the encroachment stated to have been made by writ petitioner in the said land. This writ petition came to be disposed of by another Hon'ble Division Bench in and by order dated 22.11.2022 and a scanned reproduction of the same is as follows:

8. Pursuant to the aforementioned order, 2^nd respondent before us has issued a notice dated 21.11.2022 bearing Reference M.P. No.

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