File counter by Jan 27, HC tells govt

A bench of Justices M Duraiswamy and T Ravindran impleaded authorities, including the State Chief Secretary,the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Commissioner and the temple administration and directed them to file their counter by January 27.

The public interest litigation petition filed by Naam Tamizhar Katchi coordinator Senthil Nathan submitted that the temple, whose consecration is to be held early in February, was a symbol of Tamils and hence the consecration should be held in Tamil language. The petitioner also recalled that the high court had earlier ordered the consecration of Sri Sundarar temple in Villupuram in Tamil.

The ceremony at the temple, also called the Peruvudaiyar temple, is scheduled to take place on February 5.

In view of the event, the State government had recently issued a Government Order (GO) to appoint a 21-member committee headed by Chief Secretary K Shanmugam to oversee the consecration. Apart from the Chief Secretary, other prominent officials, including the DGP, the Southern Railway General Manager and Secretaries of all important departments are part of the team. The Thanjavur District Collector, who is also part of the committee, will also act as its convenor.