http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/article574368.ece
cial tahsildar for the Erode Urban Land Tax Project, S Sampath, on Sunday recommended to the Erode tahsildar that steps be taken to take over and maintain a 12.66-acre disputed government property on Brough Road, said to be worth over Rs 900 crore, after seeking the Collector’s advice.
The Church of South India (CSI) has claimed that the land belonged to the CSI trust. According to the CSI administration, a Christian missionary, HA Papli, bought the land in an auction held in 1905 at a price of Rs 12,910 and handed it over to the London Mission (CSI) in 1907. As the trust was unable to get a patta for the property from the tahsildar, it approached the assistant Urban Land Tax Project Officer, Chennai, in 2010.
On June 30, 2010, the officer recommended necessary corrections on the government records to give the patta to the trust.
On that basis, the trust approached the tahsildar a second time. But, the tahsildar and some others appealed against the order with the Commissioner for Land Revenue and Settlement, who, after perusing the records (survey No 586 and 587) found that the property was mentioned as government land. Hence, he cancelled the order of the Assistant Urban Land Tax Project Officer and ordered a de novo probe by the special tahsildar.
On the basis of documents submitted by both the parties, Sampath passed an order on July 10, 2012, stating that the CSI trust did not submit any registered document of HA Papli, his successor Anthony Watson Brough or the present authorities, to prove that the land was bought in an auction.
He also found many anomalies in the auction records and the title deed of HA Papli, which were produced by the trust. Papli did not have any right to transfer the land to the London Mission (CSI) in 1907, he noted, while adding that the land registration did not fulfil the norms. The revenue department has been asked to record it as ‘government poromboke land’. There was no need to recover the land as it already belonged to the government, the order said.
Temple devotees arrested- ERODE, April 3, 2015
Updated: April 3, 2015 05:34 IST
Hundreds of devotees taking part in the festivities of Sri Periya Mariamman Temple were arrested on Thursday when they were proceeding towards a land under dispute to prepare Pongal.
An area of 12.66 acres under the possession of Church of South India is claimed by Sri Periya Mariamman Temple Land Retrieval Movement as the original property of the temple.
Representatives of the Movement questioned the rationale behind permitting CSI to retain the land even after a government survey establishing that it was under unauthorised possession.
They criticised the district administration for not doing enough to retrieve the land for the purpose of laying 80 feet road linking the Brough Road with the Chennimalai Road.
Referring to the speed with which land was acquired from private owners for the proposed traffic island at Government Hospital Junction, they charged the government authorities with double standards.
Protestors demand removal of encroachments on temple land
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/protestors-demand-removal-of-encroachments-on-temple-land/article4583399.ece
Police arrested 600 persons and released them in the evening
Police arrested more than 600 members of the Committee for the Retrieval of Periya Mariamman Temple Land here on Thursday when they attempted to cook sweet rice near the temple protesting against the State government's failure to remove the encroachments on the temple land.
A large number of men and women gathered at the Eshwaran temple premises and took out a procession towards the Periya Mariamman temple carrying pots, rice, firewood, sugarcane and turmeric. Committee president M. Chandrasekar led the procession.
A team of police personnel prevented the members at Thiruvenkadasamy Street and asked them to withdraw their protest.
Members refused to do so and a few them even attempted to cook rice in the middle of the street.
Police arrested the members and released them later in the evening. The arrested persons included 406 women.
The committee had been protesting for long to retrieve the temple land from those who were occupying it.
Committee members also wanted the government to implement the 80-foot road project in order to ease the traffic congestion that prevailed in the town.
If implemented, it would establish better road connectivity between the Erode Railway Junction and the Brough Road, they pointed out.
A total of 406 women took part in the protest and were arrested
