Mosque, Madrasa and Hundreds of Families Face Eviction After Temple Land Auction in India

India’s Supreme Court on Monday upheld an eviction order concerning 3.93 acres of land belonging to the ‘Arulmigu Annamalainathar’ temple in Kadayanallur, Tamil Nadu. After the disputed land was transferred to private ownership, residential houses, a mosque and an Arabic school (madrasa) were built on the property.

A bench comprising Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi refused to interfere with a December 2015 judgment of the Madras High Court. In its ruling, the High Court had found serious irregularities in the original auction through which the temple property was sold.

The dispute dates back more than three decades. In 1994, the Tamil Nadu Temple Administration Board approved the public auction of the 3.93-acre property, setting a minimum price of Rs 3.10 lakh.

Five people participated in the auction held on June 19, 1995. R. Subramanian, the nephew of V. Subramania Iyer, who was the hereditary trustee at the time, emerged as the highest bidder with an offer of Rs 10.17 lakh.

The Madras High Court later observed that the auction process had not followed the required legal procedures. The court noted that objections under Section 34 of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959, were invited only after the auction had been completed. One of the objections stated that the auction price was far below the market value of the property.

Following this, the HR and CE Commissioner cancelled the auction process in 1997. However, the Tamil Nadu government issued a Government Order in 2002 directing that the sale process be implemented.

Land Sold to More Than 100 People

The property was later divided and sold to a large number of people. According to an affidavit submitted by hereditary trustee S. Vaidyanathan in earlier proceedings before the High Court, the original auction purchaser sold the land to 13 people in 2004.

Those buyers later divided the property into smaller plots and sold them to more than 100 people. The new buyers subsequently built permanent houses on the land.

The affidavit further stated that a mosque run by the local Muslim Jamaat and an Arabic school were also built on part of the disputed property. According to court records, the surrounding roads are mainly inhabited by members of the Muslim community.

High Court Finds Irregularities in Auction Process

The HR and CE department later began eviction proceedings against the occupants under Section 78 of the law. A status report submitted to the High Court stated that there were 83 illegal occupants and eviction orders had been issued against all of them.

Initially, notices were issued to 81 ‘occupants’, giving them the option of becoming tenants of the temple or vacating the land. The High Court was later informed that all 81 ‘occupants’ had agreed to become tenants of the temple. The department then began the process of fixing rent under Section 34A instead of evicting them.

However, in its December 2025 judgment, the Madras High Court clearly held that the original auction involved a “serious violation” of legal procedures and was influenced by a possible conspiracy involving the then trustee.

The court stressed that the interests of the temple and the deity would take priority over private interests created through an irregular sale. The Supreme Court’s decision leaves the Madras High Court judgment and all subsequent legal orders concerning the temple property intact.

Senior advocates Huzaifa Ahmadi and Sanjay Hegde represented the petitioners, while senior advocates C.S. Vaidyanathan, Dama Seshadri Naidu and V. Chitambares represented the respondents, along with other lawyers.