Status quo in plea against using explosives near Sri Ranganathar temple

The Principal Seat comprising Acting Chief Justice M Duraiswamy and Justice J Sathya Narayana Prasad held this observation on hearing a plea by Rangarajan Narasimhan, founder, Our Temples Our Pride Our Right movement.

The petitioner appeared in person and submitted that the government, in the name of laying the road, is using explosives to extract granite from the hillock which houses the Ranganathar temple, Singavaram near Gingee.

“With the support of a local MLA, explosives are being used to extract stones from the rock in the guise of laying the road. A compound wall of the temple has been damaged due to the landslide,” the petitioner submitted. R Shunmugasundaram, Advocate General said no explosives were used.

“The government has stopped laying the road. Also, the compound wall was damaged because of the rainfall. Usually, a landslide occurs when it is raining,” the AG submitted.

On recording the submissions, the bench urged the state government to maintain the status quo.

“File a status report regarding the condition of the temple. Also, if there is any damage to the wall, the government shall reconstruct the wall,” the judges observed. The court asked the AG to file the counter within two weeks and posted the matter to December 2.