Supreme Court stays demolition of temple inside apartment complex in Madurai

The Supreme Court of India has stayed the demolition of a temple built on a land designated as Open Space Reservation (OSR) in the Visthara Residency apartment complex in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.

A bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Manmohan ordered the said interim relief while issuing notice on a petition filed by the Visthara Welfare Association.

Top court was told that neither parties had filed any pleadings in the writ petition before the High Court.

"In fact, no opportunity was given to them for filing the pleadings. Notwithstanding the same, the High court has directed demolition of the temple", court was further informed by Senior Advocate D.S. Naidu. Naidu further told the bench that the temple had been built with the consent of the apartment residents and was a common place of worship.

"Issue notice returnable on 25.08.2025. In the meanwhile, demolition of the temple shall remain stayed", the bench ordered accordingly.

High Court’s ruling was based on the finding that the Apartment Owners’ Association could not produce any valid permission or license for constructing the temple on OSR land.

Case Title: VISTHARA WELFARE ASSOCIATION (VISWA) vs. R. MAYILSAMY & ORS.