In Brief
This case involves multiple shop owners who operated small businesses in temple premises in Tamil Nadu on the basis of licenses or permissions from temple authorities. The State authorities and temple management issued dispossession notices without following statutory procedures. The shop owners filed writ petitions in the High Court seeking to quash the notices and prevent dispossession, but both the Single Judge and Division Bench dismissed their petitions. The Supreme Court allowed the appeals, holding that matters concerning encroachment on religious institution property are governed by the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959, which prescribes specific statutory procedures (Sections 77-85). Since the respondent authorities had not followed these statutory procedures, the Court set aside the High Court's orders and allowed the respondents to pursue statutory remedies against the appellants individually."
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