MADURAI: Hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed seeking direction to safeguard the properties of 14 temples in Karur, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Monday directed the HR&CE commissioner and Karur collector to file a joint affidavit containing details of 20 temples in the district, including the 14.
A bench of justices Anita Sumanth and C Kumarappan said that the details should include the names and properties of 20 temples along with their survey numbers, their executive officers and trustees, encroachments, if any, and the action taken against them, among others.
They further wanted the executive officers of the above temples to file individual affidavits stating whether the registers of the temple are being maintained as per the Tamil Nadu HR and CE Act. The case was adjourned to October 29.
The litigant A Radhakrishnan of Salem, stated in his petition that he had sent several representations to the authorities to recover the temple properties from land grabbers and encroachers, but the authorities have not taken any action on them.
He requested the court to direct the authorities to consider his grievance and protect the 14 temples. Noting that there are about 64 temples in the district and the litigant’s representations mention the issues pertaining to them, the judges directed the authorities to file the affidavit with respect to the 14 petition-mentioned temples and six more temples of their choice for the time being.