Madras HC Gives Four Temple Tenants Four Weeks to Appeal Fair-Rent Fixation, Says Appeals Must Be Numbered Without Insisting on Limitation

The petitioners, tenants of temple premises, challenged notices dated 7 October 2026 demanding payment of fair rent fixed under Section 34A of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act.

They alleged that the fair-rent order had been made without notice while their revisions against eviction orders under Section 78 were pending before the Commissioner. The fair-rent fixation order itself had not been challenged.

Section 34A governs the fixation of fair rent, and Section 34A(3) provides the appeal invoked by the Court as the remedy for challenging a fair-rent fixation order.

Section 78 concerns eviction proceedings; a revision challenging an eviction order does not, by itself, challenge a distinct fair-rent fixation order. A challenge to a consequential demand, without challenging the underlying fixation order, is not tenable.

The Court found that the impugned notices merely followed the fair-rent fixation order, which the petitioners had not challenged.

The pending revisions concerned eviction orders under Section 78 and did not extend to the separate fair-rent determination under Section 34A. Accordingly, the Court held that challenging only the consequential notices was insufficient. It nevertheless preserved a remedy by allowing the petitioners time to appeal against the fixation order.

It granted the petitioners four weeks to file appeals under Section 34A(3), directing the first respondent to number any such appeals filed within that period without insisting on limitation. The writ petitions were disposed of, and the connected miscellaneous petitions were closed without costs.