Relief under RTI Act for woman who was deprived of land ownership

The Hindu: Chennai: Wednesday, 17 December 2025.
After a decade’s struggle to get her property back, the victim approached TNIC for relief, State Chief Information Commissioner Md. Shakeel Akhter directed Narayani to approach the District Registrar, Chengalpattu, with all relevant documents for registration of her land.

More than a decade after her agricultural land was erroneously recorded as temple property, abruptly depriving her of ownership, a woman turned to the Right to Information (RTI) Act to uncover the truth.
In 2012, S. Narayani of Chennai, was shocked to know her ancestral land measuring 75 cents at Tiruporur in Chengalpattu district had been shown in the encumbrance certificate as property belonging to the Arulmigu Kandaswamy Temple, Tiruporur.
Along with her son, S. Rajkumar, Ms. Narayani approached officials of the Revenue, Registration, and Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) departments seeking an explanation as to how the family’s private land was listed as temple property. However, their repeated representations evoked no response from the officials.
“We had all the land records such as parent documents, patta, chitta and other revenue certificates to establish our ownership. But the officials could not produce a single document to justify how our land was shown as government property. They refused to entertain our request to change the records based on facts,” Mr. Rajkumar said.
No response to RTI Act plea
With no relief forthcoming, Ms. Narayani filed an RTI Act application in 2022 with the District Registrar-cum-Public Information Officer (PIO), Chengalpattu, seeking details on how the ownership of her land had been altered. When the application drew no response, she moved an appeal before the Tamil Nadu Information Commission (TNIC) the following year.
When the matter came up before State Chief Information Commissioner Md. Shakeel Akhter, he summoned the PIOs of the three departments and directed them to explain how private patta lands in Survey Nos. 56/1, 56/3 and 56/5 had been converted into temple property, and to produce supporting documents.
Though the officials initially maintained the lands belonged to the temple, they failed to furnish any records to substantiate their claim.
Wrong entries acknowledged
After several adjournments spanning over two years, the Registration Department’s PIO submitted a report stating that mistakes and erroneous entries had been made in 2007. The officials responsible had since retired, the report said, and no action could be initiated against them.
The PIO further informed the Commission that the petitioner could approach the appropriate authorities for registration of the property, provided there was no objection from the Revenue Department regarding the genuineness of the patta or any pending litigation.
Passing orders after hearing both sides, Mr. Shakeel Akhter directed Ms. Narayani to approach the District Registrar, Chengalpattu, with all relevant documents for registration of her land, a move that would restore her ownership and rights over the property.