P.GOPAL Vs. COMMISSIONER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has come up with this Writ Petition seeking issuance of a writ of Certiorarified Mandamus to quash the impugned encroachment eviction proceedings initiated against the petitioner in M.P.No.62/2016/B4 dated 13.10.2017 and for consequential direction to the respondents to forbear from evicting the petitioner except following the due process of law.

(2.) Heard Mr.M.Ajmal Khan, learned Senior counsel appearing for the petitioner, Mr.V.R.Shanmuganathan, learned Special Government Pleader appearing for the respondents 1 and 2 and Mr.M.Saravanan, learned counsel appearing for the respondents 3 and 4.

(3.) The case of the petitioner is that the petitioner is a resident of Srirangam and he is a small scale vendor of Copper Utensils used for pooja. The petitioner was allotted a shop by Sri Nathamuni Trust in the year 1968. The petitioner has been paying the rents to the Trustees of the said Trust. In the year 1989, the temple insisted that ground rent has to be paid to the temple and rent for the building alone has to be paid to the Trust. Accordingly, the petitioner was paying the rents i.e ground rent to the temple and building rent to the Trust. While so, the third respondent issued a notice under Section 80 of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Act, 1959 (Tamil Nadu Act 22 of 1959) on the basis of a report of the fourth respondent dated 29.07.2015.