Times of India: Chennai: Wednesday,
September 11, 2019.
An employee of the school had
filed an RTI application asking details about the school, to which certain
questions were left unanswered. He filed appeals which were taken up for
hearing by the TNSIC
Identifying that the trustees
of an aided school in Purasaiwalkam may be selling off land allotted to them by
the state government in 1930, the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission
(TNSIC) has directed the Commissioner of Land Administration (CLA) and the
registration department to upload the original GO on the website and also
mention in the encumbrance certificate that the government is the sole owner of
the land.
The case pertains to Sir MCTM
Muthiah Chettiar High School, which is run by a trust whose president is
Meenatchi Muthiah and the secretary is her husband Tharun. Meenatchi’s mother
Kamala Muthiah is a permanent trustee as well. The school has a vast expanse of
land which is valued at several crores, say TNSIC sources.
An employee of the school had
filed an RTI application asking details about the school, to which certain
questions were left unanswered. He filed appeals which were taken up for
hearing by the TNSIC.
The commission stated that
there was a dispute in the school as the president and the secretary wanted to
sell the land. However, Kamala Muthiah objected to this and even brought out a
newspaper advertisement against this.
During the hearing,
commissioner S Muthuraj called for relevant land records dating back to 1930.
As per the GO, the land had
been alienated in favour of the school’s trustees and was to be used only for
the school. Once the purpose of the alienation of the land, which is running
the school, is over the land has to be returned to the state government, the GO
states. “There are doubts that the admissions to the school are being reduced
and that the land would be sold off,” Muthuraj observed in the order.
Stating that the land belongs
to the government, Muthuraj directed the commissioner of land administration to
upload the GO on the website and explain that it was ‘alienation land’ as per
the documents. Copies of this order should also be given to the trustees and
the president and secretary of the trust, he added. To ensure that the land is
not sold or re-registered, Muthuraj also directed the registration department
to reflect the ‘alienation land’ in the encumbrance records. The CLA in a
letter on August 30 directed the Chennai Collector to act accordingly and
reflect the changes as directed by the TNSIC.
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