‘St Joseph school running on temple land’: Madras HC issues notice to 5 IAS officers for disregarding order, failing to remove encroachment even after 5 years

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In a case of encroachment of temple land by an organisation to run the ‘St Joseph Matriculation Higher Secondary School’ in Tamil Nadu, the Madras High Court has issued notice on a contempt petition against 5 IAS officers of the state.

As per reports, the bench of Justice KR Sriram and Justice Sunder Mohan issued notices to the following IAS officers:

  • P Amudha, Secretary, Department of Revenue and Disaster Management
  • S Madhumathi, Secretary, Department of School and Education
  • Dr B Chandramohan, Secretary, Department of Tourism, Culture, HR and CE
  • PN Sridhar, Commissioner, Department of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Administration
  • Sibi Adithia Senthilkumar, District Collector, Cuddalore

Two joint commissioners from the HR&CE Department are also named in the notices by the High Court. The said officers have been asked by the High Court to appear in person on July 10.

The notices were issued on a contempt plea filed by the petitioner, S Vinoth Raghavendran, alleging the non-compliance of an April 2024 order issued by the Madras High Court. In April 2024, the High Court had asked the state government authorities to find an alternate land for the St Joseph school that has been running on the encroached temple land.

S Vinoth Raghavendran is the state secretary of the BJP’s Spiritual and Temple Development Wing.

In his petition, S Vinoth Raghavendran had mentioned that the plot on which the St Joseph Matriculation and Higher Secondary School runs in Cuddalore belongs to a Hindu temple, and despite efforts, the encroachment has not been removed.

When the Madras High Court took up the writ petition, the state government advocate informed the Court that the as per an earlier order by the Court on a writ petition submitted by the school, the State authorities were directed to arrange for an alternate land to relocate the school, and make sure that the land is near the said town so students are not inconvenienced.

However, the proposal for the relocation has been pending with the state government for 5 long years. In April 2024, the Court had granted an additional 6 months to the State for providing land to relocate the school.

The petitioner S Vinoth Raghavendran has drawn the HC’s attention to the fact that despite the extension granted, no steps have been taken by the State authorities to provide an alternate site for the school, and to ensure the removal of the encroachment of the temple land.

The St Joseph Matriculation and Higher Secondary School has been running on land that belongs to the Devanathaswamy Temple of Thiruvanthipuram, the petitioner has said to the Court.

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