Two big parcels of land, including a high-rise, recovered in Madurai

Madurai district administration recovers prime lands in the city based on court orders, causing concerns for apartment owners.

This January saw Madurai district administration recovering two prime lands in the city.

One is a 31.10-acre property in Moondrumavadi near K. Pudur on Alagarkoil Road in the city, including Golden Lotus apartment complex. The other property is a big parcel of land assigned by the government to Madura Coats in Racecourse Colony off Bharathi Ula Road. The recovery of the lands was done based on orders of the Commissioner of Land Administration.

According to officials, the recovery process has been initiated at the Moondrumavadi property, following a direction from the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court. The property comprises residential blocks, commercial establishments and a vast vacant space opposite the apartment complex across the road.

The people who have bought apartment in Golden Lotus apartments, one of the very few high rises in Madurai, are now in a Catch-22 situation over these developments. The district administration has placed boards on the property stating that the land belonged to the government with a warning that action will be taken against trespassers.

In 2022, one D. Devasahayam filed a public interest litigation petition before Madurai Bench of Madras High Court seeking a direction to the authorities concerned to recover the government property, citing it was assigned for a specific purpose. He said that, in 1912, the lands - on both sides - of the road were assigned by the government to American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM), a Christian missionary organisation, for the purpose of establishing an industrial home for needy women. The assignment order included a condition that the land should be used only for trade training and charitable purposes and if not, the government could repossess it.

The petitioner said ABCFM was changed to United Church Board for World Ministries which abided by the conditions of assignment by cultivating the land and used the income for industrial homes for orphans and destitute till 1973.

But, it was alleged that in 1973, some of these properties were illegally transferred to Church of South India Trust Association (CSITA), in violation of Indian Church Act, 1927, and the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) 1991. After this illegal transfer, the CSITA did not follow the conditions of assignment and went on to sell the properties.