CHENNAI: State BJP president K Annamalai on Wednesday urged the ruling DMK government to immediately stick to the 2017 guideline value in the Registration department and reimburse the extra fee collected for so many days against the court order to the public.

"Without following the High Court's order, the ruling DMK government continues to collect additional fees without revising the guideline value. This is an act of contempt of the High Court. Illegally, the intention of charging additional fees against the High Court order has raised many doubts, " Annamalai said in a statement.

"There is serious doubt as to whether the additional fees collected against the High Court order actually goes to the government exchequer, " Annamalai noted.

Earlier, the Madras High Court has struck down the circular issued by the Inspector General (IG) of State Registration department dated on March 30, 2023, revising the guideline value for registration of properties and ordered the state to stick to the 2017 value until new guidelines are framed.

"While statutory provisions were followed in revising the guideline value in 2017, no procedure, including obtaining of the report of a sub-committee or experts, fixing the value by an evaluation committee, or calling for objections from the public were followed while revising the guideline value in 2023," the High Court had ruled.