Madurai police charge 19 over illegal Meenakshi temple land

Police in Madurai have filed a criminal case against 19 individuals, including government officials, over the alleged fraudulent transfer of high-value properties belonging to a charitable trust of the historic Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple. The First Information Report was registered by the city's Central Crime Branch on July 25 following a formal complaint from the temple administration.

The case centers on a 1.79-acre property on Alagarkoil Road, comprising a bungalow named Ashoka Vilas and an adjoining garden, which was bequeathed to the temple in 1930 under the Pudukottai Rajakumarar Dakshinamurthy Durairaja Durairani Trust. According to the trust deed, the property's income was dedicated to funding specific religious rituals at the Meenakshi and Alagar temples, charitable food distribution, and educational scholarships, with explicit prohibitions against its sale or mortgage.

Temple authorities allege that despite these restrictions, the property's title was illegally removed from official revenue records in 2016, and land ownership documents, known as pattas, were issued to private individuals by the then Tahsildar of Madurai North. That order was later set...