Taken aback by mismanagement of a temple in Tirunelveli district, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday summoned the Commissioner of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department to ascertain the allegations made out in the case.
A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and B. Pugalendhi took a serious note of the fact that idols were stolen from the temple, its lands were being used for mining blue metal rock without permission and the person at the helm of the affairs was actually removed in 2015.
In a status report, the Joint Commissioner of the HR and CE Department, Tirunelveli submitted that one Nainar Naikar continued to discharge his duties at the temple in Radhapuram and had refused to hand over the charges of the temple.
Following serious allegations from the public that Nainar Naikar was not performing his duties, he was removed in 2015 itself. He was trying to get his hands at the compensation amount for the temple lands that were acquired for a river linking project, it was submitted.
Taking note of the allegations levelled against Nainar Naikar, it wondered how he was still continuing to discharge his duties in the said capacity despite the fact he was removed. The court termed it a deliberate failure on the part of the authorities concerned.
The court observed that it looked like a clandestine arrangement. Considering the fact that the temple lands were being exploited and an idol theft had taken place, the court sought to know the total loss incurred as a result of the mismanagement.
The court said that it was a litmus test for the department that if they can take charge of the temple before the next hearing. Seeking a report in this regard, the judges adjourned the hearing in the case to November 20.
