NAGAPATTINAM: Taking suo motu cognisance of the abuse of position by two people who were appointed to manage Nagore Dargah, the Madras High Court relieved the two of their duties. The direction comes after a writ petition by the accused backfired.
K Allaudin, a retired IAS officer, and SF Akbar, a retired district judge, were appointed by the Madras High Court in February 2017 to an ‘ad hoc Board of Administrators’ to run the affairs of Nagore Dargah for four months. However, the court learned that the two administrators had been continuing in position for five years and relieved them of their positions.
It learned from their petition regarding a trustee’s participation in the recently-concluded Urs festival at the dargah. The trustee, Muhalli Muthavalli, wanted to participate in the 465th Urs festival in January and sought permission from The TN Waqf Board in December. The board, however, had rejected it. The ‘ad hoc board’ comprising Allaudin and Akbar appealed to the Madras High Court on January 4.
The Bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy, who heard their writ petition, found that the administrators had filed the plea using the dargah’s funds. It also learned that the two administrators had continued to function despite their short tenure.
The court taking suo motu cognisance of the issue ordered the ‘ad hoc board’ to show cause as to why the body should not be discontinued or substituted. Further, the court said the ‘ad hoc Board of Administrators’ will not handle the affairs of the dargah, and stressed the responsibility to lie with the Waqf board instead.