Chennai: In order to enable devotees to offer prayers during the Easter week, Madras high court has directed the authorities to de-seal the 125-year-old St Antony’s church in Ekkattuthangal, allegedly situated on government poromboke land.
When the petition filed by St Antony’s Church, represented by its parish priest Fr.Samuel Savio, which sought to remove the lock and seal of the church and permit unhindered worship especially during this holy week, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M. Sundar orally observed that “it is imperative that the church should be de-sealed to enable devotees to offer prayers at the church during the holy week.
Posting to April 11, further hearing of the case, the bench also directed the counsel for housing and urban development department, commissioner of Chennai corporation and member-secretary of Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority to obtain instructions and produce copies of earlier orders of the court in a writ petition and the contempt petition.
According to petitioner, the church has been functioning on the premises on Dhanakotti Raja street for the past 125 years and the land was classified as Sarkar Poromboke in government records.
In 1964, the church structure was in dilapidated condition and hence the then parish priest of St Thomas Mount renovated the church by strengthening it with cemented brick walls and asbestos roof sheet.
In 2015, the church was once again renovated and a new church building was constructed with a built up area of 717 sq.ft. Raghuraman, a resident of the locality and his family members, filed a petition alleging that land grabbers, with an intention to grab government lands and in the guise of construction of church were making steps to put up illegal construction on government land.
The church was not arrayed as a respondent. He filed a false petition suppressing the facts and alleging as if the church was constructed in 2015.
Based on the same, the high court passed an order against the church, he added.
He said on an appeal filed by the church, after personal hearing, the housing and urban development department observing that there was no encroachment, stayed the de-occupation notice on April 11, 2016, giving 6 months for the church to complete all legal formalities for alienation of the land in favour of the church and obtain planning permission. Meanwhile, Raghuraman filed a contempt petition. When the representation for patta and panning approval was pending, on January 4, 2017, the Chennai corporation, as a follow up on the contempt petition, came to the church and locked and sealed the premises.
