MADURAI: The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Friday ordered status quo against the construction works proposed to be undertaken at the Palani Dhandayuthapani Swamy temple, Palaniandavar Arts and Culture College and Palaniandavar Arts and Science College for Women in Dindigul by using `162.5 crore funds belonging to the temple.
A bench of justices N Sathish Kumar and M Jothiraman further directed the committee headed by retired HC judge V Bharathidasan, which was appointed by the court in 2024 to monitor the removal of encroachments in and around the temple, to inspect the works and file a report. The matter was adjourned to June 8.
The directions were issued on a PIL filed by the state secretary of Spiritual and Temple Development Wing of BJP S Vinoth Ragavendran from Chennai, challenging the GO dated January 7, 2026, and the consequential tenders issued by the HR&CE department in January and February for the aforesaid works, which included construction of additional queue complex, new rest houses for devotees, etc in the temple; indoor stadium, entrance arch, among others for the above-mentioned colleges.
Ragavendran alleged that the proposal for the above works originated from the HR&CE minister and not from the Board of Trustees of the temple, who are actually responsible for making such decisions.
He also raised suspicion as to why the tenders were floated in quick succession when the incumbent government was nearing the end of its tenure. He requested the court to quash the GO and the tenders, in the same way as the court, early this year, quashed similar works attempted to be carried out by the department at the Kallazhagar temple in Madurai.