The Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) on Friday told the Madras High Court (HC) that an ‘Audit manual’ is in the works in order to verify temple properties. The HR&CE is grappling with a number of pending cases regarding various issues including temple property encroachments, smelting of gold, collection of arrears and appointment of trustees.
Advocate D. Chandrasekaran, appearing for the temples, filed the petition before a special bench comprising Justices R. Mahadevan and P. D. Adikesavalu. Appearing in court via video conferencing, HR&CE commissioner J. Kumaragurubaran said the audit of the temple properties was currently being carried out by the Finance Department officials and he had been appointed as the Chairman of the Board of Officers with the rank of Deputy Secretary of the Department. The bench gave the commissioner three weeks to put in court the details of the audit mechanism.
Regarding the collection of rent arrears to be paid to the department, the Commissioner said that steps have been taken to collect ₹540 crore at the rate of ₹2,390 crore per annum and at present, the target is set at ₹2 crore to ₹3 crore.
Currently, he said, rent is coming through 99,000 properties. Efforts are underway to lease another three lakh properties. Advocate General R Shanmugasundaram told the bench that district committees have been set up in all the districts and trustees will be appointed soon. The bench wanted him to submit a schedule for the appointment of trustees as per the provisions.
(With inputs from Kathir News)
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