Sha Tin Rural Committee is set to launch a judicial challenge to reclaim ownership of the famous Che Kung Temple from the government.
On behalf of indigenous Sha Tin villagers, Lau Tin-yeung, 62, on Monday will file an application for a judicial review into the ownership of the land on which the 300-year-old temple stands.
Villagers say they are not after the millions in donations given by worshippers and do not want to claim the value of the land. They just want to 'vindicate their right to enjoy absolute ownership and control of their ancestral hall'.
The villagers will challenge the government's interpretation of a Supreme Court order in 1932 that is said to have transferred ownership of the Tai Wai temple site to an incorporated body set up by the government.
Before the transfer, villagers said, the land was registered under the name of all villagers - more than 20,000 of them.
But they say the court order involved only the transfer of ownership from two temple managers to the government. Because of this, they claim most of the land still belongs to the villagers and their descendents.