Madurai Corpn. submits to HC action plan to verify property tax assessment

Madurai Corporation on Tuesday submitted its detailed compliance report and action plan to the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on steps to verify property tax assessment of buildings in the city.

In the report, Madurai Corporation Commissioner Chitra Vijayan submitted that 100 teams for 100 wards had been formed for the purpose of property tax assessment of buildings. Each team comprises a tax collector/Group III officer, a technical assistant, and a sanitary supervisor. The inspection of property tax assessment of buildings will be carried out in a phased manner.

Training was given to the officials and the staff regarding new assessment procedures for effective implementation. The officers working in the Corporation as Superintendents, Assistant Revenue Officers, and Administrative Officers have been appointed to carry out inspection work.

A coordination meeting was held on August 22 with the Madurai Collector. It was resolved that Sub-Committees shall be constituted in each of the five zones of Madurai Corporation, comprising Assistant Revenue Officer equivalent to the rank of the Tahsildar, and Junior Engineer under the supervision of Assistant Commissioner equivalent to the rank of the Revenue Divisional Officer.

A committee comprising 11 officials under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) of Madurai Corporation, constituted to find out whether any irregularity or under assessment was made, will monitor and verify the inspection reports. The Committees shall report to the Madurai Corporation Commissioner, who in turn will report to the Director of Municipal Administration.

Explaining the process, the report said that the steps included identification of properties for reassessment, street-wise and ward-wise assessment, and detection of the escaped assessments.

There will also be inspection protocols, and digital uploading of the data, monitoring and verification. The process will be carried out in accordance with the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Rules, 2023.

A Division Bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and G. Arul Murugan took cognisance of the report, and directed the State to issue a circular to Corporations, Municipalities and Town Panchayats across the State to follow the action plan to set right irregularities in property tax assessment. The court directed the SIT to continue the probe in Madurai Corporation property tax scam.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by AIADMK Councillor of Madurai Corporation T. Ravi (Ward No. 83), who sought transfer of the probe into the scam to the CBI. The scam, which occurred between 2022 and 2024, had caused a loss of about ₹200 crore to the civic body, he alleged.