5 months ago
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The Tamil Nadu authorities has framed Alienation of Immovable Property of the Religious Institutions Rules, 2025, laying down elaborate guidelines to beryllium followed by Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) section for sale, exchange, lease oregon owe of temple lands.
Appearing earlier a peculiar Division Bench of Justices R. Suresh Kumar and S. Sounthar constituted to perceive temple related cases, Special Government Pleader (HR&CE) N.R.R. Arun Natarajan said, a Government Order had been issued connected December 1, 2025 for notifying the statutory rules successful the gazette.
The submission was made during the proceeding of a writ petition filed Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar (SSN) College of Engineering which was successful concern of 9.74 acres of Thiruporur Kandaswamy Temple onshore and had offered a overmuch larger grade of onshore elsewhere successful speech for the temple property.
The SGP said, the 2025 Rules had been framed by exercising the powers conferred connected the authorities by Section 166(1) work with Section 34(1) and (3) of the Tamil Nadu HR&CE Act of 1959 and successful supersession of the Revenue section rules that were successful beingness since May 18, 1960.
The alienation rules authorities that the word ‘urban area’ utilized successful it shall person the aforesaid meaning arsenic it had been defined with nether the Tamil Nadu Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency successful Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Rules of 2017.
The 2017 Rules, successful turn, authorities that ‘urban area’ would see the country (including colony panchayats) wrong the territorial limits of Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority; Madurai, Tiruchi, Salem, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli corp limits and the 8 kilometer country (including colony panchayats) astir those limits.
The explanation of the word besides includes the territorial limits of each different municipal corporations, municipalities, municipality panchayats, cantonments and townships and makes it wide that the word would further see immoderate different country that whitethorn beryllium notified by the authorities from clip to time.
Temple lands tin beryllium alienated lone if it is necessary, says Madras HC
Sale worth of temple lands
After adopting the definition, the 2025 Rules authorities that the worth of temple lands shall beryllium fixed based connected the marketplace worth oregon line value, whichever was much and that erstwhile it comes to sale, the merchantability worth of the temple onshore located successful an municipality country shall beryllium determined astatine 225% of the onshore value.
The merchantability worth of the temple lands located wrong 30 km of the municipality country shall beryllium determined astatine 275% of the onshore value, the merchantability worth of properties wrong 30-50 km from municipality country shall beryllium determined astatine 325% and for temple lands beyond 50 km from municipality area, the merchantability worth shall beryllium determined astatine 425% of onshore value.
Exchange of temple lands
When it comes to giving distant temple onshore successful speech for different immovable property, the Rules authorities that the backstage onshore projected for speech nether Section 34 of the HR&CE Act indispensable person a wide rubric and indispensable beryllium successful possession of the applicant without immoderate encumbrances, encroachments, litigation oregon conflicts.
The grade of onshore to beryllium provided successful speech should not beryllium a portion of Open Space Reserve country oregon immoderate different onshore that had to beryllium fixed distant to the section authorities for laying of roads and truthful on. Further, lands located successful delicate zones specified arsenic buffer zones, falling nether the Hill Area Conservation Authority, elephant/tiger corridors and eco delicate zones shall not beryllium considered for exchange.
The Rules besides authorities that the lands offered successful speech indispensable person wide entree to the large territory roads oregon highways and should not beryllium onshore locked. In cases wherever the worth of the temple onshore and the backstage onshore to beryllium fixed successful speech was the same, the grade of the onshore to beryllium exchanged indispensable besides beryllium the same.
If the worth of the onshore belonging to spiritual institutions is higher than the worth of the onshore offered successful exchange, the quality successful worth indispensable beryllium compensated successful currency oregon larger grade of backstage onshore could beryllium offered successful bid to equalize the worth of the temple land.
Beyond faith: The contentious contented of temple lands successful Tamil Nadu
Publication of notification
Rule 5 of the latest statutory rules besides states that each connection for exchange, sale, owe oregon lease of a temple onshore for a word exceeding 5 years indispensable beryllium published successful the Tamil Nadu authorities gazette arsenic good arsenic the territory gazette specifying each details related to the projected transaction.
A nationalist announcement should besides beryllium issued inviting suggestions/objections, if any, with respect to the projected transaction wrong 30 days and they indispensable beryllium duly considered by the HR&CE authorities. A velocity post, with acknowledgement due, indispensable besides beryllium sent to the idiosyncratic trustees of the temple concerned.
Further, copies of the nationalist notification issued nether Rule 5 indispensable beryllium displayed successful the HR&CE offices, successful a conspicuous spot astatine the temple acrophobic and connected the announcement boards of the jurisdictional section bodies too issuing paper publications too, the caller Rules state.
