MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court recently directed the state government to constitute the Board of Trustees for the Subramaniya Swamy temple in Tiruchendur within four months.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice R Poornima gave the direction while disposing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed by SMA Gandhimathi Nathan of Thoothukudi.
The judges observed that the Board of Trustees, as required to be constituted under the provisions of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959, has not been constituted in the aforesaid temple.
As a result, the affairs of the temple have been managed by a fit person for more than one year, though such appointment was made only as a stopgap arrangement, they added.
Considering the petitioner’s allegation that the delay was intentional, the judges directed the state government to expedite the process and constitute the Board of Trustees within an outer time limit of four months.
The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments secretary should ensure that all steps required to be taken, including invitation of application, scrutiny thereof and communication at different levels, are undertaken stage-wise in a time-bound manner, the bench said.