‘Temple not state’s fiefdom’: Madras HC stays Kallazhagar works
MADURAI: The Madurai bench of Madras High Court recently quashed a GO passed by the state government on March 8, 2024, for carrying out various civil works in the Kallazhagar temple in Madurai, after finding procedural violations in getting approval, allotment and expenditure of funds for the said works.
Allowing a batch of petitions filed against the above works, which are part of the state's 'Iconic Project', a bench of justices Anita Sumanth and C Kumarappan further directed immediate measures to be taken for appointment of new board of trustees to the temple.
They also suggested that the board members retire in rotation for seamless functioning. The judges rejected the state's claim that the proposal for the above project did not emanate from the announcement made by the state HR&CE minister on the floor of the Assembly on April 19, 2023, but was conceived far earlier in 2020 itself.
Citing the list of announcements made by the department in regard to the temple in 2022-23 and 2023-24, the judges said it is only in 2023 that the department states that a master plan "will be prepared" for the infrastructural works and there is no reference to any earlier plan in this regard.
"It is not for the state to make grandiose announcements relating to deployment of temple funds, that too in the region of `40 crore. They have, to put it bluntly, no business to deploy temple funds unilaterally and as part of some ill-conceived operation to upgrade temples," they criticised.
Noting that the Kallazhagar temple is one of the five temples chosen by the state for its 'Iconic Project', they added, "Such a decision should have been taken by the temple trustees after thorough consultation and deep introspection about the necessity, cost and other factors.
All this has been given a go-by and the state has acted as though the temple is its personal fiefdom where real estate is abundantly available for crass commercial development."
They also pointed out that it is the board of trustees which holds the authority to manage a temple and the entirety of the funds vested with it. But in this case, the participation of the trustees is clearly ineffective and decision making was done only by the authorities, they added.
They also expressed concern over the fact that accumulated surpluses of the temple have been reduced from Rs 96.6 crore as on March 31, 2021 to Rs 62 crore on March 31, 2024. The budgeting for the project is incomplete and incorrect and substantial funds have been spent even without approval, they added. Noting that proper audit has not been done, they called for a comprehensive status report in regard to the audit of religious institutions in two weeks.
They also questioned the continued presence and involvement of the Executive Officer from 1968 saying it is not justified post the introduction of Executive Officer Rules in 2015 which says the maximum term of an EO at a time is five years.
Though the tenure of the present board of trustees has expired in mid-October 2025, no steps have been taken thus far to constitute a new board, they noted and ordered immediate initiation of the selection process.
Regarding the objections raised against operating a slaughter house in the temple, the judges said they do not wish to render any finding on the matter and directed the authorities to examine the said aspect and take appropriate decision as per relevant statutes and rules.
Since the petitioner alleged that some of the proposed constructions are in close proximity to buildings protected by the Archaeological Survey of India, they also recorded the assurance given by the advocate general that the approval of ASI would be obtained in such cases and constructions such as the ones next to the Nayakar Mahal would be removed immediately.
Though the judges quashed the GO and subsequent proceedings, they allowed some of the new constructions to remain in the interest of the public and issued a series of directions in that regard.