The Madras High Court has agreed that it was illegal on the part of former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami to have laid the foundation stone in October 2020 for construction of Kallakurichi Collectorate complex on 34.817 acres of land owned by Ardhanareeswarar temple at Veeracholapuram even before the property could be acquired as per law.
However, stating that much water had flown since then and now the government had decided to take the land on lease at a monthly rent of ₹1.6 lakh, to be increased by 15% once in three years, the first Bench of Acting Chief Justice T. Raja and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy permitted the government to go ahead with the construction.
The judges also recorded the submission of Advocate General R. Shunmugasundaram that the Revenue Department would immediately deposit an advance amount of ₹57.64 lakh with the temple management upfront and that the value of the land would be reassessed every 10 years from 2030 in order to refix the monthly rent as per its value.
