THYDERABAD: A division bench of the Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday granted status quo on the decision of Telangana state government to reduce the term of office of temple trustees from two years to one year from the date of taking oath of office.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar was dealing with a petition by P Narasimha Reddy, chairman of the trust board of Kethaki Sangameswara Swamy Devasthanam, Jharasangam mandal in Medak district, and eight other members of the trust, challenging the decision of the government.
Petitioners’ counsel V Ravi Kiran Rao said the government has issued a notification, vide GO Ms No 37 dated Nov 1, 2014, to reduce the term of temple trustees in the state and the petitioners were aggrieved by its action of bringing substitution to sub-section 2 of Section 17 of the Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act, 1987.
In fact, the government had prescribed one year term for trust boards, but later it was extended to two years on the ground that one year term is not sufficient for the trust boards for effective administration and taking up development activities, he added. The counsel contended that for political purpose, the government reduced it again to one year without citing any ground.