MADURAI: Reminding the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department that the properties belonging to temples and mutts should be maintained and utilised only for the benefit of the religious institutions, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the department to take steps to secure the properties of Madurai Adheenam from encroachers.
A Bench of justices R Mahadevan and J Sathya Narayana Prasad made the observation while passing orders on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by A Radhakrishan to secure and safeguard the Madurai Adheenam's properties as some of them, he alleged, were being encroached by private individuals.
The judges said the case depicted the 'callous attitude' on the part of the HR and CE authorities in carrying out their responsibilities of supervising the administration of mutts under the Tamil Nadu HR and CE Act, 1959. Highlighting the long-standing history of the Madurai Adheenam and its role in the Saivite culture, the judges said the mutt's origin dates back to around the sixth century AD and has been the guiding light of Saiva philosophy for centuries. "Crores worth of properties, both movable and immovable, come under the Adheenam, in addition to the invaluable antiques with the temples under its control," they added.
But some of the properties belonging to the mutt in Sivagangai and Madurai were allegedly being encroached on by private parties and the HR and CE department has not taken effective action to recover them, the judges noted.
They pointed out that the court has time and again reiterated that the properties belonging to the temples and mutt, should be used only for the temple and religious activities, and if it is encroached upon by any third party, it should be removed and retrieved with immediate effect notwithstanding the pendency of any proceedings. They directed the authorities to take immediate steps to conduct an inquiry and secure the mutt's lands and also recover arrear rents if any.
