HYDERABAD: The Christians and Muslims working in various posts in the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) have moved the High Court challenging Rule 9(4) of the TTD Employees’ service conditions which prohibits recruitment of non-Hindus in any post in TTD and also in the temples and institutions working under its control. At present, 42 non-Hindus, including Christians and Muslims, are working in TTD in various cadres such as attenders, drivers, mazdoor and sanitary workers. The petitioners urged the court to set aside the show-cause notices issued to them by TTD under the said rule.
They submitted that they were appointed through direct recruitment only after verification of their certificates by the authorities concerned between the years 1998 and 2004 in TTD and its institutions which included hospitals and educational institutions. Bowing to pressure from some Hindu organisations, the TTD executive officer had issued show-cause notices to them on December 11 last year stating that they were not eligible to work in TTD and its institutions as per the TTD employees’ service conditions specified under Rule 9(4), and sought their explanation within three weeks.
In fact, the TTD had already decided to remove them from service before issuance of notices, they alleged and said the impugned rule was contrary to the Constitution, and urged the court to intervene in the matter.
Principal Secretary to Endowments Department and TTD executive officer were named as the respondents. The matter is expected to come up for hearing before a division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice MSK Jaiswal.