Madras HC Declines To Halt Temple’s 5-Acre Lease Auction, Leaving Grandson’s 1991 Will Claim For Civil Court To Decide

The petitioner claimed that the five-acre property in Survey No. 290 belonged to his grandfather, who allegedly bequeathed it to him by a registered Will dated 14 August 1991; he also claimed possession and agricultural use.

The fourth respondent issued an auction notice dated 28 September 2026 proposing to lease the property on 15 October 2026. The petitioner sought to quash the notice insofar as it concerned that land and to prevent the creation of third-party rights while his civil suit was pending.

The respondents’ counsel submitted that the auction concerned temple land, that the temple’s patta and revenue records stood in its name, and that no interim stay had been granted in the suit; the temple had also filed a counterclaim.

The judgment refers inconsistently to the suit as O.S. No. 14 of 2024 in the prayer and earlier paragraphs, and as O.S. No. 14 of 2014 in paragraph 3.

The petition was brought under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

It applied the principle that, where the petitioner’s property-rights dispute and request for interim relief were already before the civil court, the petitioner could seek appropriate relief in that forum; the Court left the rights of the parties and the auction’s outcome to be addressed in the pending proceedings.

The petitioner’s asserted title and possession were disputed by the temple, which relied on revenue records standing in its name; the civil suit, including the temple’s counterclaim, was already pending.

As the civil court had not granted an interim stay, the High Court declined to halt the scheduled auction and considered the civil court the appropriate forum to address the petitioner’s grievance and determine the parties’ rights.

It left the auction’s outcome and the petitioner’s rights to be decided by the civil court. The connected miscellaneous petitions were closed.