Chennai: The Madras High Court has directed the Erode Collector to respond to a petition seeking a ban on the construction of churches on natham poramboke land.

Petitioner MS Jaganathan of Mullamparappu, Modakurichi Taluk, Erode, filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Madras High Court, alleging that churches are being built on government owned natham poramboke land in Poondurai Semur, Modakurichi Taluk without obtaining proper permissions.

In that petition, he mentioned that the state government has issued ordinances based on the Supreme Court order, that the government poramboke land should not be used for any religious purposes. He further alleged that some churches had violated the Supreme Court and the government orders. The churches had initiated construction on natham poramboke land in Poondurai village without permission and some government officials are complicit in the violation, he noted in the petition. No action has been taken on the application that he has given to stop the construction of the churches, he alleged. The plea was heard by a division bench comprising Justices CV Karthikeyan and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy. The bench ordered Erode Collector to respond to the petition and adjourned hearing to June 13.

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