MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday, sought response from the HR and CE commissioner on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition seeking direction to fill staff vacancies in the Ramanathaswamy temple in Rameswaram.
A bench comprising Justices R Subramanian and L Victoria Gowri gave the direction after expressing dissatisfaction with the status report filed by the executive officer (EO) of the temple.
The bench criticised a statement made by the EO in the report that vacancies could not be filled owing to an order passed by the Supreme Court last year, ordering the status quo on the appointment of priests in the Agamic temples in Tamil Nadu. The judges opined that the EO had misinterpreted the order and sought to know the stand of the HR and CE commissioner on the EO's report. The case was adjourned to next week.
According to the PIL filed by G Rajendran of Chennai, the aforesaid temple should have at least 12 gurukals and 19 assistant gurukals. However, it has only two gurukals and seven assistant gurukals currently, he claimed. Stating that this has affected the regular performance of pujas at the temple, he sought a direction to fill the vacancies. In the previous hearing last month, the court had directed the EO to submit details on the number of staff and annual income of the temple, among other details. However, they were dissatisfied with the EO's report and gave the above direction.