KOCHI: The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), not the state government, is the competent authority to make regulations for the maintenance of order and decorum at Sabarimala, and for the due observance of the religious rites and ceremonies performed at the temple, the Kerala High Court said on Friday. The court also ordered that the Board should take over the virtual queue platform currently owned and managed by the Kerala Police with the technical support of the Tata Consultancy Services.
“Kerala Police cannot own the domain name — sabarimalaonline.org — or display any advertisement on that web portal and earn revenue. It should be owned and controlled by the TDB,” held the Devaswom Bench comprising Justice Anil K Narendran and Justice P G Ajithkumar.
The bench issued the order while disposing of a suo motu case and other petitions, alleging data leak, against the Kerala Police’s virtual queue management for the Sabarimala pilgrimage. In view of the provisions under the Travancore Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions Act, it is the duty of the TDB to see that the regular traditional rights and ceremonies in the temple are performed properly, and to establish and maintain sufficient facilities for the devotees. The Board has to manage the properties and affairs of the devaswoms and arrange for the conduct of daily worship and ceremonies in every temple.
Only police can manage crowd in Sabarimala: HC
“Unlike other temples in India, crowd management and maintenance of law and order in Sabarimala during pilgrim season and monthly poojas is a challenging task, which can only be handled by the police. Considering the fact that the temple is situated in a difficult forest terrain prone to natural disasters, the presence of police is necessary even at the 18 holy steps to render assistance to devotees, especially children, senior citizens and also persons with disabilities.
Crowd management at Sabarimala cannot be handled with the limited number of TDB employees, who are deputed on special duty. For managing such a huge crowd, it is imperative that the police have access to the database in the virtual queue platform. When specific security threat inputs have been received in respect of Sabarimala temple, the police will have to take preventive action after screening and verifying the database,” held the court.
Verification of virtual queue tickets and other related matters should be the responsibility of the Kerala Police as part of crowd management. “The access to any personal data in a virtual queue platform by police for crowd management will in no manner infringe the right to privacy of devotees,” held the court.
Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sangham national vice-president D Vijayakumar said the verdict reaffirmed the TDB’s autonomous power in the temple’s day-to-day administration. He said the board should ensure a pilgrim-friendly atmosphere for devotees, particularly those who come from other states.
TDB HAILS VERDICT ON VIRTUAL QUEUE
TDB president K Anandagopan welcomed the High Court order to hand over the management of the virtual queue system to the Board. He said the TDB would initiate measures to provide basic facilities for the devotees.