CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu govt on Tuesday said it would proceed against everyone involved in the alleged fraudulent registration of a parcel of 1.4acre land, valued at around Rs 100 crore, belonging to the Arulmigu Dhandayudapani Swami Mutt in Palani.Commercial taxes and registration minister D Logesh Tamilselvan made the announcement while addressing reporters alongside Hindu religious and charitable endowments minister S Ramesh, a day after Palani sub-registrar Justin Manikandan was suspended for registering the property in the names of two private individuals.“The sub-registrar has told us that he acted on a court order and was unaware of the background of the property. The registration document has now been kept on hold. If the inquiry finds anyone else involved, irrespective of who they are, action will be taken,” Logesh said.Ramesh outlined the sequence of events leading to the registration. He said an attempt was first made on March 27 to register the property using what the govt described as a fraudulent sale deed. The registration department issued a refusal slip on April 1, after which the applicants approached the court.“On April 10, the court directed the department to consider the registration within a week if the documents were in order,” he said. According to the minister, the applicants returned to register the deed on July 3. A day earlier, however, a senior HR&CE official had written to the district registrar instructing that the land should not be registered.“Since the sub-registrar had already been transferred, the assistant who was holding charge did not act on the communication. On July 6, Justin Manikandan, who was given additional charge of Palani sub-registrar office, registered the document,” Ramesh said. He said the matter is now before the court, with the HR&CE department impleaded as a party. The govt would pursue all legal remedies to recover the parcel of land, he added.The minister dismissed allegations linking his relatives to the transaction, accusing political opponents of trying to discredit the govt. “Some are claiming that my relatives purchased the land. This is a clean, transparent and corruption-free govt. I have lodged a police complaint, and those spreading false information will face legal action,” he said.Responding to another issue, Ramesh defended the HR&CE department’s decision to lift the registration freeze on certain inam land in Karur district. “This is another attempt to mislead the public. Some people, including BJP state president Nainar Nagenthiran, are commenting without knowing the facts. The govt has only removed the registration restriction. It has not altered the ownership of temple land,” he said.
