Identifying that the trustees of an aided school in Purasaiwalkam may be selling off land allotted to them by the state govt in 1930, the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission (TNSIC) has directed the Commissioner of Land Administration (CLA) & the registration department to upload the original GO on the website & also mention in the encumbrance certificate that the govt 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 & 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 Tamil Nadu State Information Commission (TNSIC) sources.

An employee of the school had filed an Right to Information (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 Tamil Nadu State Information Commission (TNSIC).

The commission stated that there was a dispute in the school as the president & the secretary wanted to sell the land. However, Kamala Muthiah objected to this & 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 & 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 govt, the GO states. “There are doubts that the admissions to the school are being reduced & that the land would be sold off,” Muthuraj observed in the order.

Stating that the land belongs to the govt, Muthuraj directed the commissioner of land administration to upload the GO on the website & explain that it was ‘alienation land’ as per the documents. Copies of this order should also be given to the trustees & the president & secretary of the trust, he added. To ensure that the land isn’t sold or re-registered, Muthuraj also directed the registration department to reflect the ‘alienation land’ in the encumbrance records. The Commissioner of Land Administration (CLA) in a letter on Aug 30 directed the Chennai Collector to act accordingly & reflect the changes as directed by the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission (TNSIC).