KONGU EDUCATIONAL TRUST Vs. COMMISSIONER, HINDU RELIGIOUS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This common order will govern the captioned two main writ petitions and the captioned writ miscellaneous petitions (WMPs) thereat.

(2.) In this order, W.P(MD) No.17092 of 2016 shall be referred to as I-WP and W.P(MD) No.19582 of 2016 shall be referred to as II-WP (both for the sake of convenience and clarity).

(3.) Factual matrix in a nutshell containing facts that are imperative for appreciating this order are; that 'Arulmigu Balasubramaniaswamy Thiru Koil, Manmangalam Taluk, Karur District' ('said Temple' for the sake of convenience and clarity) is the subject matter of the captioned writ petitions; that a vast extent of 'land admeasuring 7.81 acres or thereabouts situate in Survey No.269 in Kadhapparai Village in Manmangalam Taluk, Karur District' ('demised land' for the sake of convenience and clarity) admittedly belongs to said Temple; that lease, fixation of lease rent for said demised land and disputation qua the same is the central theme of the lis in the captioned writ petitions; that the writ petitioner has been described as a Trust; that this Court is informed that writ petitioner Trust is running a School; that writ petitioner Trust entered into a registered lease agreement dtd. 19/6/1995 with legal heirs of one late Ramasamy Gounder taking on sublease said land for a period of thirty years; that this Court is informed by writ petitioner that said demised land is being used as a playground for a school run by the writ petitioner Trust, but the respondents say it is being used as a car park (to be noted, this is a factual disputation); that post sublease there was a communication dtd. 8/12/2005 from hereditary trustee of said Temple to the writ petitioner calling upon the writ petitioner to disclose the rent that is being paid qua demised land and saying that no construction should be put up; that writ petitioner replied vide communications dtd. 20/12/2005, 29/6/2005; that thereafter vide proceedings dtd. 28/11/2008 and 17/8/2001, lease rent was quantified qua demised land; that the lease rent for the period from 1/7/2008 to 30/6/2011 was Rs.4130.00 per month; that the writ petitioner received a communication dtd. 2/12/2015 from the Executive Officer of said Temple saying that lease rent for demised land has been fixed at Rs.2,04,122.00 per month and calling upon the writ petitioner to pay arrears computed at this rate of Rs.2,04,122.00 lakhs per month; that the writ petitioner responded vide communication dtd. 4/1/2016 addressed to the Executive Officer of said Temple but receipt of this communication is disputed by the Executive Officer of said Temple (there shall be some discussion on this infra); that thereafter the Executive Officer of said Temple sent a communication dtd. 28/6/2016 calling upon the writ petitioner to pay arrears which by then had swelled to a little over Rs.37.99 lakhs; that in the typed set of papers filed along with the counter-affidavit/vacate stay WMP in I-WP, writ petitioner came to know that Lease Rent Fixation Committee had fixed lease rent for demised land on 12/2/2015; that on same 12/2/2015, the jurisdictional Joint Commissioner of the 'Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department' (hereinafter referred to as 'TNHR&CE Dept' for the sake of convenience and clarity) had written a letter about this fixation of lease rent; that on coming to know about the fixation of lease rent on 12/2/2015, II-WP was filed by writ petitioner assailing 12/2/2015 lease rent fixation proceedings and 12/2/2015 communication from jurisdictional Joint Commissioner; that when the I-WP was moved, this Court granted a blanket stay qua lease rent vide an interim order dtd. 9/9/2016 in WMP(MD) No.12401 of 2016; that thereafter in and by a further interim order dtd. 21/9/2017, this Court directed 50% of the arrears as on that day to be deposited; that this Court is informed that such deposit has since been made; that the interim order is operating; that post completion of pleadings captioned writ petitions and WMPs thereat are now before this Court.