Petitioner sought quashing of an order appointing others as non-hereditary trustees of a temple in Erode and a direction to appoint him instead. Court found he had no appointment or scheme order and had not rendered accounts; selection by District Level Committee was valid and writ petition dismissed.
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W.P.No.5164 of 2024
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED : 25.07.2024
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MRS. JUSTICE V.BHAVANI SUBBAROYAN
W.P.No.5164 of 2024 and
W.M.P.Nos.5672 & 5674 of 2024
K.V.K.Nagaraj
... Petitioner
Versus
7.P.Mani
... Respondents
https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis Prayer : Writ Petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India
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praying to issue a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus to call for the entire records relating to the impugned order passed by the third respondent in his proceedings Na.Ka.No.5418/2023/A3, dated 12.02.2024 and quash the same and consequently, direct the respondents 2 to 4 to appoint the petitioner as one of the non-hereditary trustee for the Angala Parameswari Temple, Choolai, Erode - 4.
For Petitioner : Mr.C.Prakasam For Respondents : Mr.K.Karthikeyan, GA for R1 to R4 Mr.A.V.Bharathi for R5 to R7
ORDER
This Writ Petition has been filed seeking issuance of a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus to call for the entire records relating to the impugned order passed by the third respondent in his proceedings Na.Ka.No.5418/2023/A3, dated 12.02.2024 and quash the same and consequently, direct the respondents 2 to 4 to appoint the petitioner as one of the non-hereditary trustee for the Angala Parameswari Temple, Choolai, Erode4.
the Arulmigu Angala Parameswariamman Temple, Choolai, Erode and conducting daily poojas for the past several years. The third respondent called for the applications on 08.11.2022 for appointment of the non-hereditary https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis
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trustees for the said temple which was under the control of the fourth respondent. The petitioner and others have submitted applications for appointment of non-hereditary trustees. But the respondents 3 and 4 without considering the petitioner's application, have appointed the respondent 5 to 7 as non-hereditary trustees. Challenging the same, the petitioner is before this Court.
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accounts of receipt and expenditure to the HR & CE Department.
the Assistant Commissioner of HR & CE Department, Erode, had called for applications for the non-hereditary trustees vide his notification in R.C.No.3746/2022-12/A3 dated 08.11.2022. Accordingly, Poovendan, Selvaraj and Nagaraj had submitted their applications for appointment of nonhereditary trustees. Since Poovendan died on 24.03.2023, his name was deleted for consideration and the remaining two applications were placed before the District Level Committee for consideration. It is seen that under Section 49 of the HR & CE Act, the Assistant Commissioner has to appoint three non-hereditary trustees, out of them, one shall be a member of the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes and another one shall be a woman. Since only two persons have filed applications, to overcome this stalemate, again a notification was issued on 29.09.2023 calling for further applications for the non-hereditary trustees for the said temple. Since the respondents 5 to 7
had fulfilled the eligibility criteria, were appointed as the non-hereditary trustees for the said temple vide order dated 12.02.2024.
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return the same. After giving police complaint only he handed over the key. Further, the petitioner without having any proper appointment, stating that he is the temple Dharmakartha and trying to make money. The same has been brought to the knowledge of the authorities by way of a petition signed by 135 local people from the said village. For all these reasons, the application of the petitioner for appointment of non-hereditary trustee was not considered and thereafter, from all the persons applied for the post, three persons were selected by the District Level Committee and appointment was made in a proper manner. Hence, the petitioner has no locus standi to file this Writ Petition.
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by this Court. It is seen that the conditions enumerated in the application form talks about only the qualification to apply and it does not state any condition for rejection made by the authorities and reasons to be stated for such rejection and no such provision has been produced before this Court that reason has to be stated for non-selection. Hence, this Court does not find any merits in this petition and is liable to be dismissed.
Index :Yes/No 25.07.2024 Speaking / Non-speaking order Neutral Citation : Yes/No gsk
To
1.The Commissioner, HR & CE Department, Nungambakkam,
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Chennai -34.
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V.BHAVANI SUBBAROYAN, J.
gsk
W.P.No.5164 of 2024 and W.M.P.Nos.5672 & 5674 of 2024
25.07.2024
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2 issues framed by the court
Whether the petitioner's application for non-hereditary trusteeship of Angala Parameswari Temple could be rejected without recorded reasons.
Whether the appointment of respondents 5 to 7 as non-hereditary trustees by the District Level Committee was valid.
2 provisions across 2 enactments
K.V.K.Nagaraj
The Commissioner, HR & CE Department, Chennai
The Joint Commissioner, HR & CE Department, Erode
The Assistant Commissioner, HR & CE Department, Erode
The Executive Officer, HR & CE Department, Anjaneyar Temple, Erode
A.Anandan
V.Bhavani Subbaroyan
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
