HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday directed the Centre, Andhra Pradesh government and the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams to file detailed counter affidavits in the PIL filed by Subramanian Swamy. The Rajya Sabha member and BJP leader had filed a plea to liberate Sri Venkateshwara Swamy temple at Tirumala, Sri Padmavathy temple in Tiruchaanur and another 11 temples in Andhra Pradesh from the state government control.
It also demanded an audit of the accounts and properties, including jewellery, for the past three financial years of TTD. The Court wants transparency with regard to donations, gifts, expenditure and so on, the bench noted. When the matter came up for hearing, Swamy said that as per the Supreme Court judgment of 2014 the government’s control over TTD and its temples was not valid.
The government’s control should be confined in respect of protecting the assets of the temples. He alleged and urged the court to issue directions for the prevention of corrupt practices in the TTD.