A century ago, theosophist Annie Besant appeared before the Madras High Court to argue two famous cases — one related to the custody of two children and the other to the freedom of the press. Now, the international headquarters of the Theosophical Society at Adyar in Chennai has been fighting a legal battle before the same court in connection with 256 acres of serene land in the heart of the city. According to the Theosophical Society, it got incorporated in 1905 under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. Its objective was to nurture universal brotherhood, encourage comparative study of all religions, and explore unexplained laws of nature as well as powers latent in man. The Society has branches in 70 countries and its international headquarters is at Adyar in Chennai.
Sold to Prince of Arcot
Of the total extent of 256 acres in its possession, 81.25 acres originally belonged to a woman named Mary Anne Longhurst, who sold it to Ghulam Mohamed Ali Khan Bahadur, the Prince of Arcot, in 1906. According to the Society, two of its members B. Subbiah Chetty and B. Ranga Reddy, who resided on the Society campus, purchased the land from the prince in 1908 for ₹40,000.
The Society claimed that the property was acquired on instructions from its then president, Annie Besant, and that the sale consideration too was paid only by the Society. On February 15, 1908, the same day when the sale deed was registered, the two purchasers executed an agreement stating that the transaction was carried out for the benefit of the Society, and using its money, though their names appear as vendees.
‘In uninterrupted possession’
Since then, the Society claimed to have been in uninterrupted possession and absolute enjoyment of the land. Suddenly, on May 6, 2013, the Mylapore-Triplicane Taluk Tahsildar wrote to the Society that the Chennai Collector had ordered an inquiry into a patta transfer application filed by one Faizal Mohamed Khan and four others who claimed to be the descendants of the Prince of Arcot.
Pursuant to the communication, the Society submitted copies of the 1908 sale deed, agreement as well as the patta (revenue document related to land ownership) obtained by it. Since no action was taken thereafter, the Society presumed that the matter was closed. However, on July 1, 2022, the society received yet another inquiry notice from the District Revenue Officer (DRO) in the Chennai Collectorate.
The 2022 inquiry had been initiated on the basis of an order passed by Justice M. Dhandapani of the High Court on a writ petition on April 28, 2022. The writ petition was filed by one Faiza Ahmed claiming that the 81.25 acres of land belonged to her great-grandfather. Hence, the judge directed the DRO to take a call on the issue after hearing the writ petitioner as well as the Society.
Subsequently, the DRO passed an order on March 31, 2023, that the claim of Ms. Faiza Ahmed could not be entertained since the Prince of Arcot had sold the land to Subbiah Chetty and Ranga Reddy in 1908 itself. He also noted that the Society was claiming ownership of the land on the basis of an agreement reached between the two vendees and Annie Besant, the then president of the Society, in 1908. Since there was also another complaint of the Society having encroached upon 40 acres of government land, the DRO directed the Velachery Tahsildar to conduct an inquiry with respect to the entire extent of land in possession of the Society, by comparing it with the maps available before the Town Land Survey as well as the documents available with the Registration Department.
DRO’s order challenged
Immediately, the Theosophical Society filed a writ petition before the High Court challenging the DRO’s order. Senior counsel A.L. Somayaji contended that the Chennai Collector had passed an order on January 21, 2017, to the effect that the name of the Society had been mentioned in the ‘Adangal’ column, as per the town survey, and therefore, the DRO ought not to have traversed beyond the order of the Collector. The senior counsel also argued that the DRO had not appreciated in the right perspective the 1908 sale deed, the agreement executed by the vendees and the patta that stood in favour of the Society. On the other hand, Advocate-General R. Shunmugasundaram, assisted by Government Advocate A.G. Shakeena, told the court that the Society ought to have filed a statutory appeal instead of the writ petition.
Directive for fresh orders
After hearing both sides, Justice P. Velmurugan set aside the DRO’s order on October 30, 2023, and directed the officer to pass fresh orders after affording an opportunity of hearing to the Society as well as the other claimant and after considering all the documents produced by them. The entire exercise of reconsidering the issue was ordered to be completed within two months. However, the Theosophical Society took Justice Velmurugan’s order on appeal before the first Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy on the ground that the DRO had no authority to give a finding on the title of the property and therefore the single judge ought to have stopped with quashing the officer’s order without remitting the matter for fresh consideration.
The Chief Justice’s Bench did not find anything wrong with the single judge having ordered a fresh inquiry with a direction to the DRO to decide the matter on merits, within two months, after giving a due opportunity of hearing to the appellant as well. It said the DRO would naturally be required to consider all contentions, including the officer’s authority to decide the question related to the title.
“In light of the above, we are not inclined to entertain the appeal. As directed by the learned single judge, the appellant may produce all documents on record and put forth its stand. The District Revenue Officer certainly would be required to consider the stand of the appellant and other parties before taking the decision on its own merits. The writ appeal, as such, stands disposed of,” read the Chief Justice’s December 7, 2023 order.
