The High Court of Kerala, Ernakulam Bench dismissed Writ Appeal No.1962 of 2010 at the admission stage. The appeal arose from a W.P.(C) challenging the termination of nine temple employees by the hereditary trustee and the subsequent Government orders. The court found no merit in the appeal.
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT :
THE HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR.J.CHELAMESWAR & THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P.R.RAMACHANDRA MENON
MONDAY, THE 22ND NOVEMBER 2010 / 1ST AGRAHAYANA 1932
WA.No. 1962 of 2010
----------------------AGAINST JUDGMENT IN WP(C) NO.31936/2004 DATED 23.9.2010
APPELLANT/PETITIONER
SREE KODIKAT BHAGAVATHY DEVASWOM, REPRESENTED BY ITS HEREDITARY TRUSTEE, P.T. KOMBI ACHAN.
BY ADV. SRI.T.KRISHNAN UNNI, SENIOR ADVOCATE
RESPONDENTS/RESPONDENTS
WA NO.1962 OF 2010
R1 BY SR.GOVERNMENT PLEADER SMT.K.MEERA
R2 & R3 BY ADV. SRI.K.MOHANAKANNAN,SC,MALABAR DEVASWOM R4 TO R9 BY ADV.SRI.S.ANANTHAKRISHNAN
THIS WRIT APPEAL HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 22/11/2010, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
J.Chelameswar, C.J. & P.R.Ramachandra Menon, J.
W.A. No.1962 of 2010
Dated this the 22nd day of November, 2010
JUDGMENT
J.Chelameswar, C.J.
Aggrieved by judgment dated 23rd September, 2010 in W.P.(C) No.31936 of 2004, the unsuccessful petitioner therein
preferred the instant writ appeal.
hereditary trustee. Respondents 4 to 9 are the employees of the
appellant devaswom appointed by one of the predecessors of the present hereditary trustee. The present hereditary trustee on the assumption of office opined that the appointments of respondents 4 to 9 are not justified in view of the financial condition of the devaswom. Therefore, he initiated proceedings for termination of their service. Aggrieved by such proceedings, those respondents carried the matter in appeal under Section 49(2) of the Madras Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1951. The
W.A.No.1962 of 2010
Deputy Commissioner/appellate authority set aside the action of the appellant herein. Aggrieved by the same the appellant herein carried the matter in appeal before the Commissioner purportedly under sub-section (3) of Section 49 of the above mentioned Act. Though we have serious doubts about the maintainability of such an appeal at the instance of the present appellant, we do not propose to make any final pronouncement on the issue as it is irrelevant for the purpose of the present case. Even in the second appellate stage, the appellant herein was not successful and therefore he carried the matter before the Government in revision under Section 99 of the above mentioned Act unsuccessfully. Therefore, the present appellant approached this Court by way of W.P.(C) No.31936 of 2004 challenging the above mentioned decision of the Government in Ext.P11.
W.A.No.1962 of 2010
on the financial condition of the temple justifying the appointment of respondents 4 to 9. Three statutory bodies consistently held against the appellant herein fortified by the decision of a learned Judge of this Court by way of judicial review holding that the impugned decision does not call for any interference in exercise of the jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. We do not see any reason to take a different view from the opinion expressed by the judgment under appeal.
We do not see any merit in the appeal. The writ appeal is dismissed at the admission stage.
J.Chelameswar, Chief Justice
P.R.Ramachandra Menon,
Judge
vns
1 issue framed by the court
Whether the writ appeal challenging the termination of service of respondents and the Government's decision calling for judicial review under Article 226 deserves to be admitted.
Sree KODIKAT BHAGAVATHY DEVASWOM
STATE OF KERALA
THE COMMISSIONER, HINDU RELIGIOUS AND CHARITABLE ENDOWMENTS
THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, HINDU RELIGIOUS AND CHARITABLE ENDOWMENTS
M. SETHUMADHAVAN
N. SUNIL KUMAR
J. Chelameswar
P.R. Ramachandra Menon
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
