TIRUPATI: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) won its nearly 24-year long battle with the Gangaram Mutt over the ownership of 3,402.26 acre of prime land in Tirupati and Tiruchanoor, with the Inams Deputy Tahsildar (IDT) court ruling in favour of the temple trust board on Monday.
The IDT court dismissed the writ petition filed by Gangaram Mutt pertaining to 3,300.68 acres in Tirupati Urban mandal and 101.96 acres in Tiruchanoor.
According to reports, Omkar Dass, mahant of Gangaram Mutt, filed petition in 1998 for granting of ryotwari patta on the land covered in Title Deed (TD) No. 2539 comprised in S.No. 1 etc., of Tirupati village under the provisions of AP (AA) Inams (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1956.
The petitioner claimed that the land was granted as service gift (inam) to the then mahant for services rendered as pallaki sarvikar in the TTD. Dass submitted that as the incumbent, he was entitled for a patta on the properties.
In 1997, the joint collector cum settlement officer of Chittoor dismissed Dass’ petition and directed him to approach the IDT court as the lands came under the purview of the Inams Abolition Act. Dass subsequently approached the IDT court.
Dass died on January 20, 2001, and the TTD Executive Officer on June 4, 2001, stated that his petition was to be dismissed as abated. Dass’ sons filed a petition on September 10, 2014, and sought that their names — O. Thulasiram Dass, O. Dilip Dass and O. Chandrasekhar Dass — be brought on record. As per the directions of the High Court, the two daughters of Dass — O. Gayathri Bai and O. Parvathi bai — were also brought on record, along with the sons.
The IDT called the case on July 27, 2018, and during subsequent hearings, counsel of the claimants failed to provide the record tills July 7, 2021.
The TTD EO filed a counter stating that the main petition was filed in 1998 and subsequent petition was filed after 22 years with the sole intention of protracting litigation. TTD’s counsel contended that the Title Deed No. 2539, in the records, is clearly described as devadayam inam lands and registered in the name of the TTD as inamdar. After hearing the arguments and examining the records, the IDT court decided that the properties would be under TTD custody.
