The Kerala High Court on Thursday dismissed a writ petition challenging the ordinance reducing the tenure of Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) members from three to two years. Dismissing the petition filed by former TDB president Prayar Gopalakrishnan and former member Ajay Tharayil, the court said the ordinance amending Section 10 (tenure of members) of the Travancore-Cochin Religions Institutions Act was legal and ‘has not been established to be vitiated by mala fides.’
The court said the exercise of power in promulgating the ordinance to amend Section 10 of the Act was not with an oblique purpose or extraneous considerations. The legislature in its wisdom thought it fit that the term of office of the members of the board shall be two years henceforth since the infusion of new blood would revitalise the system. It was not for the court to substitute the wisdom of the legislature. The court said that the petitioners had no fundamental right to cling on to the posts after their term had come to an end by the amendment to the Act. The State government argued that the ordinance was promulgated in view of the urgency of the situation, taking into account the requirement of immediate action in view of the Sabarimala pilgrim season. The government could not be faulted with if it felt that the board needed to be reorganised by cutting short the tenure of the existing members.
The court dismissed the contention of the petitioners that the amendment, if any, could only be made with the concurrence of the Central government, which the State government had not secured.
