Madras HC refuses to stay reopening of Uthapuram temples
The Uthapuram temples were closed to the public in 2010 following a dispute between the Pillaimars and a scheduled caste community.
Madras High Court
MADURAI: The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday refused to stay a single judge’s order allowing Uthapuram temple festival to be celebrated.
Last year, the court had ordered the reopening of Sri Muthalamman and Sri Mariyamman temples in Uthapuram village, Madurai district, which remained closed for over 10 years.
The petitioner in the case, Pandi, had approached the court seeking directives to the Collector, Revenue officials and police to reopen the temples, resume daily poojas, and conduct festivals.
The Uthapuram temples were closed to the public in 2010 following a dispute between the Pillaimars and a scheduled caste community.
The conflict subsequently led to long legal battles, with writ petitions and eventually settled through an agreement between the parties. Though a temple consecration was performed, the temples remained closed to devotees.
In his last year’s order, Justice GR Swaminathan had observed that keeping a temple closed without performing its customary poojas is akin to imprisoning the deity. The judge also drew a comparison with the treatment of prisoners, saying unlike the deity, prisoners were at least provided with proper food and basic necessities.
Asserting it was the duty of the administration to ensure daily rituals were performed without obstruction at the temples, the judge had ordered the immediate opening of both temples. However, the state government filed an appeal challenging the order.
The counsel for the temple administration stated there was no restriction on the entry of devotees from any community during festivals. Moreover, a festival organised by a particular community just ended peacefully. Therefore, the counsel objected to the grant of stay.
The government counsel argued that any conduct of the festival will create a law and order problem at Uthapuram and sought a stay order.
On Thursday, a bench comprising Justices G Jeyachandran and S Srimathy refused to grant a stay on the order and adjourned the case for further hearing.
