New trustees by May, HR&CE informs court

CHENNAI: The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department has assured the Madras High Court on Thursday that the district committees for the selection of temple trustees will be appointed by May.

When the petition related to the appointment of trustees in temples under the control of HR&CE in the State came up for hearing before Justices R Mahadevan and PD Audikesavalu, the department assured the court that the district committees to select the trustees for the temples in 23 districts (out of 38) have been formed.

The committees will be formed for Tirunelveli, Nagapattinam, Namakkal and Chengalpattu districts by March 31 and the remaining 11 will be formed by the end of the May, it submitted. Accepting this, the bench had warned that if the committees were not formed for all districts by the end of May, the HR&CE commissioner would be asked to appear in person.

Further, the bench has ordered the department to submit details of trustees’ appointment and file an Action Taken Report (ATR) to the court. If it fails, a retired High Court Judge will be appointed to monitor the appointment. The bench also adjourned the hearing to April 5.

During the hearing, petitioners claimed that few politicos and non-Hindu personnel have been appointed in the district committees. The bench said that a devotee belonging to any political party can be appointed in the committees and directed the petitioners to approach the court with a fresh plea regarding the appointment of non-Hindu in the committee.