Govt servants as temple EOs: Court tells State

CHENNAI: A vacation bench of Madras High Court ordered the State government to file a status report within eight weeks in connection with a petition filed against the move by Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR-CE) approving government servants to discharge the duties of executive officers in temples without any appointment orders.

The bench comprising Justice GR Swaminathan and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy passed the direction on hearing a petition filed by TR Ramesh.

The petitioner had sought a direction to the HR&CE to remove the government servants who are serving as the executive officers of the

temples without any appointment orders.

“In several HR&CE-run temples, government servants are functioning as the executive officers. However, no appointment orders have been issued for posting those government servants. Therefore, such people should be removed immediately from the temples. Also, the government should appoint hereditary or non- hereditary trustees to the HR&CE temples in the interest of protecting the temples and temple properties,” the petitioner said in his affidavit.

Ramesh further wanted the Madras High Court to pass orders restraining such executive officers, who serve without appointment orders, from handling the temple finance and also taking part in the tender proceedings.