GO on old age homes to be funded by HR&CE to be withdrawn: TN AG

CHENNAI: The Advocate General of Tamil Nadu submitted before the Madras High Court (MHC) that the government order allowing the common fund of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR and CE) to be used to construct old age homes will be withdrawn.

A petitioner TR Ramesh from Chennai moved the MHC seeking to direct the State to quash the Government Order (GO) 13 of 2021 issued by HR&CE.

The case was listed before the first division bench comprising Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy.

Advocate General (AG) R Shunmugasundaram appeared for the State cited Section 66 (K) of Tamil Nadu (HR&CE) act 1959 and submitted that the temple funds can be used for the establishment and maintenance of poor homes for destitute, helpless, and physically disabled persons.

Objecting to the submission, the counsel for the petitioner, Niranjan Rajagopalan submitted that according to the act, the temple funds cannot be used for such purposes without the approval of temple trustees. Hence the GO issued by the HR&CE is violating the act and it should be quashed.

The AG agreed to the submission that it is only if the trustees of the temples volunteer and approve, the amount of the temple will be utilized for permissible purposes. Further, he submitted that the GO 13 issued in January 2022 will be withdrawn. After the submission, the bench disposed of the petition.

The impugned GO stated that the funds from Palani Dhandayuthapani Swamy temple would be used to construct an old age home in Palani. Similarly the state had proposed to use common good funds available with HR & CE to construct old age homes in Tirunelveli and Chennai.