Madras High Court orders constitution of special team to trace out 27.86 acres of missing lands donated to Saint Vallalar in 19th century

File picture of an official team inspecting the site identified for construction of Vallalar International Centre (VIC) in Vadalur in Cuddalore. The High Court’s interim orders were passed on a batch of cases filed both in favour of and against the proposed construction of the VIC
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement

The Madras High Court on Thursday directed Cuddalore Collector to constitute a special team of revenue officials and surveyors to identify 27.86 acres of lands reportedly missing from 105.76 acres donated in the 19th century by the followers of Sri Ramalinga Swamigal, popularly known as Saint Vallalar, who founded the philosophy of Samarasa Sudha Sanmarga Sathya Sangam in 1865.

A Division Bench of Justices R. Suresh Kumar and S. Sounthar directed the Collector to involve the Hindu Religious and Charitable (HR&CE) department as well as Tiru Arutprakasa Vallalar Deiva Nilayam (TAVDA), which manages the properties now, in the process. It ordered that the process of identifying the missing lands must be completed as early as possible, preferably within a period of four weeks.

The judges also said any individual who had knowledge about the missing lands could also file an affidavit before the court by September 5 with the name of the encroacher, the survey numbers and the extent of land that had been encroached. Details such as Patta (revenue document related to land ownership), if any, having been granted for such lands could also be brought to the notice of the court.

Taking note of the submissions made by Special Government Pleader (HR&CE) N.R.R. Arun Natarajan that TAVDA was at present in possession of only 71.24 acres though it had identified 6.5 more acres which were under encroachment, the judges directed TAVDA to expedite the process of numbering a writ appeal that had been filed only now against a single judge’s 2020 order in favour of the encroacher.

The interim orders were passed on a batch of cases filed both in favour of and against the proposed construction of Vallalar International Centre (VIC) at a cost of ₹99.99 crore on 3.18 acres out of 71.24 acres of land at Sathya Gnana Sabai at Vadalur in Cuddalore district. A group of litigants were against the construction on the Peruveli land which houses the Arutperum Jothi, an ever glowing lamp lit by Saint Vallalar.

The State government had decided to construct the VIC — comprising a meditation hall, a museum exhibiting the history of Vallalar, an auditorium, an old age home, a digital library and so on — and hand it over to TAVDA. However, the litigants insisted that the VIC could be constructed elsewhere but not in the Peruveli thronged by thousands of Saint Vallalar’s followers to take a glimpse of the Arutperum Jothi.

During the course of hearing of the case, it was brought to the notice of the court that Saint Vallalar’s followers had actually donated 80 cawnies which amounts to 105.67 acres. However, when the HR&CE took control in 1934 it was found that only 71.24 acres were available. Subsequently, in the recent years, it came to light that 6.5 acres were under encroachment but there was no information about the rest of 27.86 acres.

Stating that the Collector, being the custodian of the revenue records of a district, would be the best person to trace out the missing lands, the Division Bench directed the officer to constitute a special team to find them out. “If the Collector cannot find out the lands, then no one on earth can find them out,” the senior judge in the Division Bench told the counsel.