Summary: In a legal battle over temple land in Nagapattinam, the High Court decided in favor of the temple, ordering the tenants to leave after they claimed they had permanent rights to stay.
The case was about a disagreement over land belonging to the Arulmigu Ananda Vigneswarar Temple in Nagapattinam. The people from the temple, led by trustee Singaravelu, wanted to remove S.N.L. Jayabalan and others who were living on the temple land as renters.
At first, the District Court at Nannilam decided against the temple in 1999, but the temple challenged that decision. On February 4, 2026, Judge V. Lakshminarayanan of the Madras High Court gave the final decision, supporting the temple.
The renters said that their mother, Pushpavalli Ammal, had secured rights to stay there permanently. They argued that the land was bought in 1954 and that they inherited these rights. However, the court found no proof of any permanent right to stay.
"The renters could not prove that the agreement allowed them to stay permanently," said the decision.
The court looked at rent receipts and other papers. It decided that the renters were only supposed to pay rent each month. The court noted that you can't assume a permanent right to stay, especially when the landlord is a religious group.
The High Court rejected the renters' second attempt to change the decision, confirming that the temple could make them leave. The court gave them three months to move out.
The High Court ruled in favor of the temple, allowing it to evict the tenants and confirming that they did not have permanent rights to stay on the property.
