Chennai: A 20-year-old dispute for a 15-acre temple land, whose market value is said to be around Rs 400 crore, has finally come to an end.
According to reports, the land belonging to Lord Varadharajaperumal Temple in Virugambakkam was encroached by people with political background for construction of a mosque.
It is said that the 15-acre land that was originally owned by Sunguvar Brahmins who donated it to the temple in the 18th century. This place was known as Thanneer Pandhal Maaniyam. However, the land was later left unused and the temple also came under the control of HR&CE department. The documents regarding the land were said to be not preserved properly.
It is alleged that in 1997, senior Congress leader Haroon’s associates said that they were going to build a mosque in the land and encroached it. They had also created documents to support their claim.
Hindu Munnani member Dhurai Sankar said that he came to know about the issue from the public who were opposed to the move.
“Immediately I approached legal experts and on their advice a meeting of temple devotees association was convened. Several spiritual leaders including Ramagopalan took part in it. We approached one of the trustees of the temple and collected details about the land. We were able to get various proofs regarding the land being donated to the temple,” he said.
He added, “After we submitted all the proofs, the court declared that the land will not be allotted to any individual person. The court also said that there was not enough proof to show that the land belonged to the other party.”