Chennai: State Revenue officials and police storming into the headquarters of the State Vanniyar Sangam at Butt Road in St Thomas Mount on Friday to take possession of the 41,952 square feet property worth over Rs 100 crore created a sensation in political circles due to the conflicting claims made by the government and the Vanniyar Sangam.
While the government said action was taken to retrieve the land under the Tamil Nadu Land Encroachment Act 1905 after two eviction notices were issued on November 28, 2022, and March 6, 2023, the Vanniyar Sangam that had been holding the property for 40 years said the Revenue Department had no right over the land.
Accusing the department of taking possession of the property illegally by throwing out the residents – over 100 poor and rural students, attending regular colleges and also preparing for competitive examinations – Vanniyar Sangam president P T Arulmozhi said the land and building was in the possession of Vanniyar Sangam founder Dr S Ramadoss since the 1980s.
The Vanniyar Sangam was providing accommodation for the underprivileged students of all communities as they had no other place to live in Chennai and pursue their studies in its headquarters building as a social service, Arulmozhi said in a statement.
Narrating the legal dispute over the property, he said the HR & CE department had filed a case in a Poonamallee court in 1991 and the Vanniyar Sangam, without being allowed to argue its case in the court, was handed over an ex-parte order for vacating the building in 2010.
When the Vanniyar Sangam went on an appeal against that order, the Madras High Court asked the case to be heard by a lower court on December 9, 2014, and the proceedings had been pending in an Alandur court with the lawyer representing HR & CE department showing no interest in pursuing the case and seeking only adjournments, he said.
While the case was coming up for hearing on August 28, the Revenue Department, with the help of the police, stormed into the premises to take possession, he said, adding that the department had nothing to do with the property or the case.
However, the government press release, announcing the retrieval of the land, said that it was a time lapsed leased property and that the Vanniyar Sangam had not paid the lease amount. He said the Kasi Viswanthar Devasthanam was given permission to use the land for temple activities but was encroached by the Vanniyar Sangam.
Now the retrieved land would be used for the construction activities relating to the Chennai Metro Rail, the official press release said.
