₹1,000-Crore Land Loot By Loyola’s Jesuit Management, Backed By a DMK Minister

 Junior Vikatan Alleges ₹1,000-Crore Land Loot By Loyola’s Jesuit Management, Backed By A DMK Minister  The Commune   September 11, 2026 

A column in the Tamil weekly Junior Vikatan has alleged that trust assets of Loyola College, Chennai, were irregularly transferred over five years, and reported that the state government has begun examining whether patronage under the previous DMK regime enabled it. An internal Society of Jesus notice, reviewed by The Commune, shows the order’s treasurer from Rome reviewed the province’s finances in August.

Trust assets worth more than ₹1,000 crore belonging to Loyola College, Chennai, were transferred through irregular means over the past five years, a column in the Tamil weekly Junior Vikatan has alleged, adding that the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government has begun examining whether a senior figure from the previous DMK government had a role.

The “Mister Kazhugu” column, in its issue dated 13 September 2026, did not name the institution but described a minority-run private college in the state capital holding thousands of acres across Tamil Nadu. It alleged that people in the college’s administration had sold off the trust’s properties “little by little,” and that a complaint had surfaced over the transfer of assets worth a reported ₹1,000 crore in five years. The description matches Loyola College and its governing body, the Loyola College Society, which is registered under the Societies Registration Act (No. 5228/1973) and run by the Society of Jesus.

Separately, an internal Loyola College Society notice dated 3 August 2026, reviewed by The Commune, shows that the Assistant General Treasurer of the Society of Jesus in Rome, Fr Wilfred Lobo, visited the Chennai province from 5 to 15 August 2026 to study its “apostolic works, new initiatives and financial status.” The notice, signed by the Rector, Rev Dr J. Antony Robinson, sets out a unit-by-unit inspection of Loyola on 8 August and a meeting with the Rector, the Campus Treasurer and the Work Directors.

Allegations over Loyola’s land are longstanding. Temple-rights petitioners have alleged for years that part of the college’s Nungambakkam campus stands on leased temple-endowment land, valued in public estimates at more than ₹1,000 crore, on which the lease is said to have lapsed around 2021. Public petitions have called on the administration to publish its land records and establish clear title. The college’s 2022 bid for university status is reported to have failed partly over its inability to produce parent title documents for the land it occupies.

The column also raised the question of whether a minister who held influence under the previous DMK government had any involvement, without naming the person. Allegations that Dravidian-party patronage protected the college’s land holdings have been made by petitioners and critics before; no official has been named or charged.

In August 2025, the college accepted a ₹1 crore corporate social responsibility donation from a trust linked to lottery businessman Santiago Martin, then under Enforcement Directorate investigation for money laundering — a donation that drew public criticism. Complaints alleging misuse of University Grants Commission funds, RTI applications on fee violations and the college’s foreign memoranda of understanding; some pending before the Tamil Nadu Information Commission and NHRC complaints over the treatment of whistleblowers are also on record. In earlier proceedings, the University of Madras has stated it holds no record of approving Loyola’s overseas tie-ups.