The Tamil Nadu government has framed Alienation of Immovable Property of the Religious Institutions Rules, 2025, laying down elaborate guidelines to be followed by Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department for sale, exchange, lease or mortgage of temple lands.
Appearing before a special Division Bench of Justices R. Suresh Kumar and S. Sounthar constituted to hear temple related cases, Special Government Pleader (HR&CE) N.R.R. Arun Natarajan said, a Government Order had been issued on December 1, 2025 for notifying the statutory rules in the gazette.
The submission was made during the hearing of a writ petition filed Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar (SSN) College of Engineering which was in occupation of 9.74 acres of Thiruporur Kandaswamy Temple land and had offered a much larger extent of land elsewhere in exchange for the temple property.
The SGP said, the 2025 Rules had been framed by exercising the powers conferred on the government by Section 166(1) read with Section 34(1) and (3) of the Tamil Nadu HR&CE Act of 1959 and in supersession of the Revenue department rules that were in existence since May 18, 1960.
The alienation rules state that the term ‘urban area’ used in it shall have the same meaning as it had been defined with under the Tamil Nadu Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Rules of 2017.
The 2017 Rules, in turn, state that ‘urban area’ would include the area (including village panchayats) within the territorial limits of Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority; Madurai, Tiruchi, Salem, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli corporation limits and the eight kilometer area (including village panchayats) around those limits.
The definition of the term also includes the territorial limits of all other municipal corporations, municipalities, town panchayats, cantonments and townships and makes it clear that the term would further include any other area that may be notified by the government from time to time.
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Sale value of temple lands
After adopting the definition, the 2025 Rules state that the value of temple lands shall be fixed based on the market value or guideline value, whichever was more and that when it comes to sale, the sale value of the temple land located in an urban area shall be determined at 225% of the land value.
The sale value of the temple lands located within 30 km of the urban area shall be determined at 275% of the land value, the sale value of properties within 30-50 km from urban area shall be determined at 325% and for temple lands beyond 50 km from urban area, the sale value shall be determined at 425% of land value.
Exchange of temple lands
When it comes to giving away temple land in exchange for another immovable property, the Rules state that the private land proposed for exchange under Section 34 of the HR&CE Act must have a clear title and must be in possession of the applicant without any encumbrances, encroachments, litigation or conflicts.
The extent of land to be provided in exchange should not be a part of Open Space Reserve area or any other land that had to be given away to the local authorities for laying of roads and so on. Further, lands located in sensitive zones such as buffer zones, falling under the Hill Area Conservation Authority, elephant/tiger corridors and eco sensitive zones shall not be considered for exchange.
The Rules also state that the lands offered in exchange must have clear access to the major district roads or highways and should not be land locked. In cases where the value of the temple land and the private land to be given in exchange was the same, the extent of the land to be exchanged must also be the same.
If the value of the land belonging to religious institutions is higher than the value of the land offered in exchange, the difference in value must be compensated in cash or larger extent of private land could be offered in order to equalize the value of the temple land.
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Publication of notification
Rule 5 of the latest statutory rules also states that every proposal for exchange, sale, mortgage or lease of a temple land for a term exceeding five years must be published in the Tamil Nadu government gazette as well as the district gazette specifying all details related to the proposed transaction.
A public notice should also be issued inviting suggestions/objections, if any, with respect to the proposed transaction within 30 days and they must be duly considered by the HR&CE authorities. A speed post, with acknowledgement due, must also be sent to the individual trustees of the temple concerned.
Further, copies of the public notification issued under Rule 5 must be displayed in the HR&CE offices, in a conspicuous place at the temple concerned and on the notice boards of the jurisdictional local bodies besides issuing newspaper publications too, the new Rules state.
Published – December 07, 2025 12:20 pm IST
