MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the joint commissioner of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) to evict the commercial shops situated inside the Nellaiappar temple in Tirunelveli, within three months.
A bench of justices SM Subramaniam and G Arul Murugan gave the direction on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed by K Balasubramanian seeking a direction to remove the shops and declare the temple as a ‘Monument of National Importance’ under Section 4 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.
Pursuant to the summon issued by the bench on Monday, the joint commissioner appeared before the court and submitted that steps have been initiated to evict shops from the temple premises. Recording this, the judges gave the above direction and disposed of the petition.
According to the litigant, the temple is spread over 1,500 years old, spread over 14 acres. It has two ancient wooden mandapams estimated to be 400 years old. But many shops including a courier office and an electronic shop are operating under the said halls, he alleged. Citing the 2018 fire accident at Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple in Madurai, he said despite the fact that wood is flammable, shops with high powered LED lights and wirings are being permitted, posing huge risk.