MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday directed the Commissioner of HR&CE department to give more time for devotees to submit their objections to a notice issued on June 20, 2026, inviting public opinion for enhancing the rates of paid services and abhishekam special darshan tickets in Tiruchendur Subramaniya Swamy temple, by publishing the notice on the official website of the department for wider publicity.
A bench of justices C V Karthikeyan and R Sakthivel issued the direction while disposing of a PIL filed by an advocate, B Ramkumar Adityan of Thoothukudi, challenging the above notice and the power and jurisdiction of the Fit Person in taking such decisions.
Adityan alleged that the notice, which contained neither a seal nor a signature, was put up on the temple’s notice board and removed two days later, defeating the very purpose of inviting public opinion.
Further criticising that the state, despite repeated directions, is yet to constitute the temple’s board of trustees, Adityan added that this omission permits the Fit Person to take unilateral decisions.
While the judges said the Fit Person has every authority to administer the temple and disposed of the petition with the above direction.