HR&CE Department concedes it constructed its offices on temple lands across Tamil Nadu

HR&CE Dept. admits to constructing offices on temple lands; promises to reimburse construction costs & pay fair rent from govt. funds. Amounts of ₹2.82L, ₹98L, ₹75L, ₹20L & ₹21.80L to be reimbursed to temples in Mayiladuthurai, Madurai, Tiruchi, Salem & Tirunelveli respectively. Arrears of rent to be paid to Tiruchendur Subramaniaswamy temple.

The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department has conceded that it had constructed offices for its regional Joint Commissioners / Assistant Commissioners on lands belonging to various temples across the State and assured the Madras High Court that the amount appropriated for the construction would be reimbursed to the temples concerned from the government funds.

Filing a counter affidavit before a special Division Bench of Justices R. Mahadevan and P.D. Audikesavalu, the department admitted the claim made by public interest litigant T.R. Ramesh that the offices of the JC and AC in Mayiladuthurai had been constructed on Sidharkadu Sambanthaswamy temple land. It said the monthly rent for the land was fixed at ₹2,000 from 2013 to 2016 and at ₹3,000 thereafter.

The rental arrears to the tune of ₹2.82 lakh up to February 28, 2023 was paid to the temple from government budget allocation. “The amount appropriated for the construction of the building will be reimbursed to the concerned temple from the administrative fund or government fund,” the department said and conceded to have constructed JC/AC offices on Madurai Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple land too.

“The building construction cost of ₹98 lakh was initially drawn from five different temples. An additional amount of ₹75 lakh was drawn from three different temples and ₹20 lakh from one temple. The total amount appropriated for construction will be reimbursed to the above temples out of the government fund. The fair rent for the land will also be fixed and will be paid from government fund,” the counter read.

Similarly, the JC and AC offices in Tiruchi had been constructed on land belonging to Tiruvanaikaval Jambukeswarar Akilandeswarar temple and the construction cost was appropriated from 10 different temples. “The total amount so appropriated will be paid to this temple (sic) out of government funds,” the department said and promised to the pay the fair monthly rent of ₹19,380 too for the land with effect from 2017.

The Salem JC’s office was functioning from a Mandapam belonging to Kottai Mariamman temple and the monthly rent of ₹8,000 from December 2004 to June 2019 had already been drawn from the government budget allocation and paid to the temple. The fair rent for it was fixed at ₹17,730 from July 1, 2019 and that too was paid up to February 2023. The total amount paid so far to the temple was ₹21.80 lakh, the department added.

In so far as the Tirunelveli Joint commissioner’s office constructed on the land belonging to Tiruchendur Subramaniaswamy temple was concerned, the department said the public works department had fixed the rent at ₹6,130 and that it was paid from 1989 to 2011. “The arrears of difference in rent from November 1, 2001 to June 30, 2022 will be drawn and disbursed to the temple at the earliest,” it said.