The appellant, a devotee, challenged an order of the Single Judge directing the HR & CE Department to conduct an enquiry into the temple's administration. The Court dismissed the appeal, holding that the appellant had no legal right to challenge the order as the original writ petitioner's challenge had already been resolved.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
W.A.No.1201 of 2020
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 05.04.2024
CORAM :
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE D.KRISHNAKUMAR
and
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE K. KUMARESH BABU
W.A.No.1201 of 2020 and
CMP No.14740 of 2020
A.R.Thulasiram Chettiar
... Appellant
Vs.
Page 1 of 9
W.A.No.1201 of 2020
Substituted for
The Fit Person/Executive Officer, Arulmigu Mundakaniamman Temple, Mylapore, Chennai 600 034 in W.P.No.9097/2020
R7 is substituted vide order of the Court dated 19.09.2023 made in CMP No.19762 of 2023 in W.A.No.1201/2020.
... Respondents
PRAYER : Writ Appeal filed under Clause 15 of Letters Patent to set aside the impugned order dated 12.08.2020 in W.P.No.9087/2020 passed by this Court, as null and void.
For Appellant : Mr.Nithyaesh Nataraj for M/s Nithyaesh and Vaibhav For Respondents : Mr.L.Dhamodharan for R1 and R7 Mr.Surya for M/s A.S.Kailasam & Associates for R5 Mr.Vineeth Subramani for R6 Mr.N.R.R.Arun Natarajan, Spl.Govt. Pleader for R2, R3 and R4 Page 2 of 9
W.A.No.1201 of 2020
JUDGMENT
(Order of the Court was delivered by D.KRISHNAKUMAR, J.)
This Intra-court Appeal has been filed, challenging the order passed
by the learned single judge in W.P.No.9087/2020, dated 12.08.2020.
The above writ petition in W.P.No.9087/2020 was filed by one
S.Manohar Chettiar to quash the impugned order passed by the Joint Commissioner, HR & CE Department dated 02.07.2020, wherein, the appellant herein was subsequently impleaded as 6th respondent. The Writ Court has passed the common order in W.P.No.9087 of 2020 and W.P.No.7617/2020, thereby i) closed the W.P.No.7617/2020, as the prayer sought for in the writ petition stands achieved and nothing survives for further adjudication and ii) disposed of the W.P.No.9087/2020 by giving conclusions on the issues as follows.
i) In general, the fact that a temple/religious Institution is denominational in nature will not stand in the way of intervention and enquiry by the HR & CE Department as provided for under Section 23 of the Act provided sufficient
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W.A.No.1201 of 2020
evidence of maladministration/mis-management is set forth by the Department in the show cause notice issued as per the proviso to Section 23 to, prima facie, warrant such intervention. In particular, the allegations levelled against the temple in question under show cause notice dated 18.05.2020 reveal the necessity for intervention and enquiry on the issues raised as well as other issues, if any, that come to light in the course of the afore said enquiry. The preliminary objection raised on the assumption of jurisdiction by the HR & CE Department is rejected.
ii) Arrears of audit fee and annual contribution are liable to be paid by the temple to be quantified by the commissioner denovo in the light of my observations above.
iii) The impugned order dated 02.07.2020 is violative of the principles of natural justice and is set aside conditional upon the petitioner complying with the condition at point (iv) below.
iv) The petitioner shall remit, adhoc, an amount of Rs.10,00,000/0 (Rupees ten lakhs only) towards arrears of annual contribution and audit fee within a period of four weeks from today, conditional upon which the impugned order shall stand set aside for denovo proper enquiry by the Commissioner. The aforesaid amount will be appropriated towards part satisfaction of the arrears of annual contribution and audit fee and will be adjusted against the final demand, once determined.
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W.A.No.1201 of 2020
petitioner, K.J.Renuka as well as any other parties as may be deemed necessary and completed within a period of six (6) weeks from the date of first hearing, that is 14.09.2020.
he is a devotee of the temple and for the show cause notice issued by the HR & CE Department, he had sent a reply notice to the Department/ HR &CE on 05.06.2020 itself, however, without considering the above reply, the impugned order dated 02.07.2020 has been issued. The contention of the appellant is that without considering the facts and circumstances of the case in proper perspective, the learned Single has passed the order and hence this appeal has been filed.
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W.A.No.1201 of 2020
W.P.No.9087/2020 before the Hon'ble First Bench, and it was disposed of,
vide judgement dated 25.09.2021, with the following directions:
As against the above order, the Review application No.35/2021 filed by S.Manohar Chettiar, before the Hon'ble First Bench was also dismissed on 02.03.2021.
W.A.No.1201 of 2020
legal right to challenge the order passed by the learned Single Judge and
hence, the writ appeal is liable to be dismissed.
Consequently, connected miscellaneous petition is closed.
(D.K.K.J.) (K.B.J.)
05.04.2024
Internet: Yes/No Index : Yes/No
mst
To
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W.A.No.1201 of 2020
Royapettah, Chennai 600 014.
Page 8 of 9
W.A.No.1201 of 2020
D.KRISHNAKUMAR, J. and K. KUMARESH BABU, J. mst
W.A.No.1201 of 2020
05.04.2024
Page 9 of 9
1 issue framed by the court
Whether the appellant, a devotee impleaded as respondent, has legal standing to challenge the HR & CE Department's intervention order regarding temple administration after the main writ petitioner's a
1 provisions across 1 enactments
A.R. Thulasiram Chettiar
S. Manohar Chettiar
The Principal Secretary, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department
The Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department
The Joint Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department
The Fit Person/Executive Officer, Arulmigu Sidhi Budhi Vinayakar and Sudareswarar Temple
D. Krishnakumar
K. Kumaresan Babu
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
