MADURAI: The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court recently appointed a commission under a retired HC judge to probe into the alleged swindling of Pillaiyarpatti Karpaga Vinayagar Temple funds by its trustees and further directed the commission to file a report on January 30, 2026.
Justice S Srimathy gave the direction on an anticipatory bail petition filed by six trustees — Thannermalai, Muthuraman, Alagu Narayanan, Arunachalam, Swaminathan, and Balamurugan. According to the prosecution, the six were booked by the district crime branch, Sivaganga, for allegedly swindling `1.76 crore in funds and 17.5kg of gold belonging to the temple. The judge appointed a commission with Justice V Sivagnanam (retired) as the judge commissioner to verify four aspects, namely, the gold and silver ornaments and cash deposits available with the temple, and whether the trustees have power to deal with land or property, and have sold any land belonging to the trust.
The commission should also inquire into all the trustees involved from the date of inception of the trust and submit an interim report before the court on January 30, she added. She also extended the interim anticipatory bail to the petitioners on November 13, till then.
Noting that there will be a change in trustees every year and apprehensions were expressed by counsels that the trustees would tamper with the evidence, the judge said the election of trustees cannot be interfered with, and the same should go on.