Plea in Madras HC to take down bogus websites operating in name of temple

MADURAI:  Observing that no private individuals should operate websites in the name of temples, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court advised the State government to take immediate action to block such websites. A Bench comprising Justices R Mahadevan and J Sathya Narayana Prasad made the above oral observations on Tuesday while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) plea filed by P Markandan of Ramanathapuram, who alleged that there are many bogus websites in the name of Amirtha Kadeswarar temple in Thirukadaiyur.

According to Markandan, the temple comes under Dharmapuram Adheenam's control. Thousands of devotees from across the globe, especially those who wish to celebrate their 60th, 70th or 80th birthday, throng the Shiva temple, to conduct pujas. While the temple administration sells tickets to conduct such pujas and ceremonies in the temple, some private individuals are also running websites for the said purpose in the name of the temple and collect money from the devotees without issuing receipts, Markandan alleged.

Claiming that these websites mislead devotees and cause huge loss to the temple, he requested the court to direct the authorities to initiate action for blocking such websites. Taking a serious view of the matter, the judges made the above observations and adjourned the case to Thursday for the authorities' response.

Meanwhile, the bench issued notice to the HR and CE department and Dharmapuram Adheenam on another PIL which was filed by Savithri Duraisamy of Tiruchy seeking to remove alleged encroachments in a land belonging to the Adheenam. The case was adjourned for a week.