CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has strongly criticised the Tamil Nadu government for allotting land classified as sand dunes as an alternative site for a private school in lieu of the land taken over from the institution.
“When this land of the petitioner is taken back for the Temple purposes and instead, Sand Dunes is given as alternate land, it is apt to quote Hubert Reeves who said -Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and destroys a visible Nature. Unaware that this Nature he is destroying is the God he’s worshiping,” Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy said in a recent order.
He stated that without realizing that these sand dunes are also the incarnation of Lord Devanatha Swami, the authorities deemed it fit to allocate the dunes to the school.
“In their endeavour to protect the sentiments of the devotees of the Temple, they (the state) had attempted to give away God himself. Without considering the ecological importance of the sand dunes, the Government acted recklessly, in violation of the public trust doctrine imposed upon it,” the judge commented.
The observations were made while passing orders on a petition filed by St. Joseph Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Koothapakkam, in Cuddalore district.
The petitioner school had purchased 5.77 acres of land in Koothapakkam from the School Education Department in 1979 and has been running the institution there. However, objections were later raised regarding 3.40 acres of the land, claiming that it had been used for the purposes of the Devanatha Swamy temple. It was argued that the land actually belonged to the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department and had been taken over by the government before being sold to the school.
The issue resulted in several litigations, after which the High Court directed the state government to provide alternative land to the school in lieu of the land on which the institution has been functioning.
According to the school management, the land was valued at Rs 8.14 crore as per guideline values, while its market value stood at Rs 40 crore. The management has been seeking suitable land for shifting the institution within the limits of Cuddalore town.
However, the Revenue Department allotted 4.50 acres of government poromboke sand dune land at Periapet village in Bhuvanagiri taluk through a government order dated July 1, 2025. The land, located about 34 km away from the present site, was valued at around Rs 2 crore.
Opposing the allotment, the school management filed the present petition before the High Court.
The judge observed that the government order was illegal and unconscionable on the face of it. Pointing out the ecological importance of the land, he said, “Sand dunes are natural buffers that protect the land from storms and other events. They act as sand reservoirs. They are habitats for certain flora and fauna. They are an eco-sensitive system of utmost importance.”
The court directed the state government to consider the proposal of allotting an alternative site at Thiruvanthipuram village for the school.
