More than 2,000 homebuyers in a northern Chennai neighbourhood have been left in distress after allegedly purchasing apartments built on land that is now reported to be under legal dispute and classified as temple property. According to a formal complaint submitted to the Director General of Police by the residents’ association of the apartment complex, the state registration department has halted property registrations after identifying that two survey numbers forming part of the project land were categorised as temple land in official records. The residents claim they became fully aware of the gravity of the issue only in mid-2025, when they learnt that a legal dispute concerning the two survey numbers was pending before the Madras High Court. However, concerns over registration had reportedly surfaced much earlier. In early 2018, residents were informed that registrations had briefly been stopped. When they sought clarification, the developer allegedly described it as a minor issue that had been resolved. Registrations for both new purchases and resale transactions reportedly continued until mid-January 2026. In their complaint, the residents have alleged criminal intent and cheating, stating that their financial security is now at serious risk. Several banks have reportedly stopped processing home loans for units in the complex, while some financial institutions have allegedly assigned negligible or zero value to the properties due to the title uncertainty. The association estimates that buyers have collectively invested more than ?2,000 crore in the project, with the average apartment costing approximately ?1 crore. They have urged the police to register cases under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including sections pertaining to cheating and forgery. Residents further alleged that while maintenance responsibilities were handed over to the association, original title documents have not been provided. They contend that although the dispute concerns only two survey numbers, the uncertainty has impacted the entire project. According to them, the land classification issue had surfaced as early as 2015, and they question why corrective steps were not taken earlier to prevent escalation. The association has also demanded the handover of all original title deeds and related legal documents, including affidavits and approval records, as well as transfer of the project’s corpus fund—estimated at ?14.3 crore—along with accrued interest. The residential development spans over 15 acres across 16 survey numbers and consists of more than 2,000 apartments across multiple residential blocks. The project was launched in the early 2000s, underwent several plan revisions and approval processes, and apartments were handed over in phases between 2014 and 2019. Fewer than 10 units are reportedly still unsold. Attempts to obtain a response from the developer were unsuccessful at the time of reporting.

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