HR and CE gets notice over order insisting on approval to hold Kumbabhishekam

The division bench comprising Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subramonium Prasad before whom the PIL from Sendalankara Jeer Trust of Sri Rangam, Trichy District came up on Monday, issued a notice to Special Government Pleader Maharajan appearing for HR&CE and posted the matter for further hearing to August 31.

The petitioner on citing the notification issued on February 14, 2017, in this regard, said the guidelines issued by the department consequent to the notification were meant only for the temples having heritage and ancient structures and not for the temples in villages. But now, based on the notification, even the temples which do not have heritage or ancient structures in it are being prevented from performing Kumbabhishekam.

Also, citing the last paragraph of the notification in which it is mentioned “Any or all the temples” falls under its Jurisdiction shall get prior permission, the petitioner further submitted that by virtue of this, the HR&CE department is preventing even small village temples, which neither has heritage or ancient value from performing Kumbhabhishekam.

Based on this, he sought for a direction to exempt the temples which failed to have either heritage or ancient structures from the purview of the above notification.

The Madras High Court on Monday dismissed with costs a public interest litigation seeking to direct the Transport Department to ensure safety measures incorporated as per statutory rules and regulations in all government public transport buses operated in Tamil Nadu. 

The plea had also sought for a direction to the authorities concerned to provide adequate infrastructural facilities at the bus terminuses and bus shelters.

The division bench comprising Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subromonium Prasad which dismissed the PIL with a cost of Rs10, 000 to be paid to Juvenile Justice Fund, held that the petition is frivolous filed for publicity and that there is no public interest involved.

The petitioner Jawahar Shanmugam, a social activist, who has several PIL’s to his credit including the need for ramps and fire safety measures in hospitals, had contended in the present petition that the buses run by the State transport corporations presented a picture of poor maintenance, quality and image when compared to other State Transport Corporation buses.

He further submitted that non-maintenance of public transport buses has resulted in numerous accidents thereby resulting in huge amounts running to several crores being paid as compensation. 

“Despite having some sound rules on bus body design, the TN State Corporation buses are poorly maintained in many ways, making it unsafe for the driver to drive the vehicle and also poses a grave danger to the commuters and travelling by these buses is a horrible and nightmarish experience,” the petitioner added.