The Madras High Court has directed the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department to upload the complete audit reports, not summaries, of major temples, including the Palani Dhandayuthapani Temple and the Tiruchendur Subramania Swamy Temple, on its official website within two weeks.
The directive came during the hearing of a petition filed in 2023 by temple activist TR Ramesh, president of the Indic Collective Trust, seeking a court order mandating that annual income-and-expenditure audit reports of all temples in Tamil Nadu be made publicly available on the HR&CE website.
Previous Court Order Recalled
A special bench of Justices R Suresh Kumar and S Saundar had earlier, in August 2025, instructed the HR&CE Department to explain why the accounts of 9,525 temples had not been submitted for audit. The bench had further ordered the department to publish full audit details of major temples such as Palani and Tiruchendur.
HR&CE Claims Compliance; Petitioner Disputes It
When the case was taken up again on Wednesday, Special Pleader Arun Natarajan, appearing for HR&CE, informed the court that:
- Audit details of 48 major temples for 2023 had been uploaded.
- Accounts of 1,036 temples had been audited and uploaded on respective temple websites.
- Summaries of audit details of 541 temples were now available online.
He requested additional time to complete uploading the remaining reports.
However, petitioner TR Ramesh argued that the HR&CE Department was deliberately avoiding full compliance with the court’s earlier order. He said:
- Only summaries had been uploaded.
- Full audit reports were being withheld.
- The department feared that uploading complete details would reveal “irregularities and mistakes” in temple finances.
- The Director of Audit, Finance Department, had not filed any response, contrary to the court’s mandate.
Court Rejects HR&CE’s Interpretation
After hearing both sides, the bench observed that HR&CE was attempting to give “a new interpretation” to the previous order and reaffirmed that uploading only summaries was not acceptable.
The judges reiterated, “As per the earlier order, the complete audit details of major temples such as Palani and Tiruchendur must be uploaded on the website within two weeks.”
They also directed the HR&CE Commissioner to file a detailed compliance report at the next hearing.
The matter has been adjourned to 18 December 2025.
(Source: Dinamalar)
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