All temples are public unless declared private by competent jurisdiction, necessitating representation in encroachment proceedings.

O R D E R

[Order of the Court was made by M. SUNDAR, J.]

This order will now dispose of the captioned 'writ petition' ['WP'

for the sake of brevity].

2. Mr.S.Shrish, learned counsel representing Mr.N.Manokaran, learned counsel on record for writ petitioners is before us.

3. Adverting to a representation dated 18.10.2024 from writ petitioner No.1, learned counsel for writ petitioners submitted that there is alleged encroachment by way of construction of what is described as Arulmigu Vinayagar Temple, Navavur Pirivu, Coimbatore (hereinafter 'said temple' for the sake of brevity, convenience and clarity) on the road in S.F. No.876 and Government poramboke land in S.F.No.290, Vadavalli Village, Perur Taluk, Coimbatore District (hereinafter 'said land' for the sake of brevity, convenience and clarity).

4. There is no material to demonstrate that said temple is a private temple. Equally, there is nothing on record to show that one Mr.Murugesan has been recognised as Administrator of said temple by the 'Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department' (hereinafter 'TNHR & CE Department' for the sake of convenience and clarity) but we preserve all the rights of Mr.Murugesan in this regard.

5. This Court has repeatedly held that in the light of sub-section (3) of Section 1 of 'The Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Act, 1959 (Act 22 of 1959)' [hereinafter 'TN HR & CE Act' for the sake of brevity], applies to all Hindu public religious institutions and all temples and in the scheme of the Statute, more particularly, definitions vide Section 6 thereat, all temples would qualify as public temples unless exempt under Section 4 of TN HR & CE Act or declared to be a private temple by a competent jurisdictional civil Court. To be noted, 'temple' is defined vide sub-section (20) of Section 6 of TN HR & CE Act. Therefore, we deem it appropriate to suo motu implead the Commissioner, Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, No.124, Uthamar Gandhi Salai, (previously Nungambakkam High Road), Nungambakkam, Chennai – 600 034 and the Assistant Commissioner, Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, Dr.Balasundaram Road, Coimbatore as R8 and R9 respectively. Registry to carry out necessary and consequential amendments in the case file forthwith but in any event before uploading/before issue of certified copy.

6. This Court is informed that a Fit Person or Trustee has not been appointed by TNHR & CE Department until now.

7. Besides the obtaining position of law, in the case on hand, there is a important reason as to why this Court has taken judicial notice qua temple by resorting to Section 49 of TNHR & CE Act. The law is well settled that any alleged encroacher should be put on notice and given an opportunity qua RoE (Removal of Encroachment) proceedings. In the case on hand, said temple is the alleged encroacher.

8. In the light of the aforereferred obtaining legal position, we direct R9 to appoint a Fit Person for said temple under Section 49 of TNHR & CE Act within a fortnight from today i.e., on or before

21.08.2025.

9. To be noted, the aforereferred directive as regards appointment of Fit Person qua said temple is given by taking judicial notice of the factual position before us and with a view to ensure that said temple is represented during possible RoE proceedings about which there shall be allusion infra.

10. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case in juxtaposition with G.O.(Ms)No.64, Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Land Disposal Wing, dated 08.02.2022 [hereinafter 'said GO' for the sake of convenience] whi