The Madras High Court has strongly criticised officials of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department for failing to protect temple properties, observing that such negligence amounts to a betrayal of the very institutions they are meant to safeguard.
The observations came during the hearing of a petition concerning alleged encroachment of lands belonging to the historic Kannanoor Mariamman Temple in Omalur, Salem district.
The petitioner, Salem-based Radhakrishnan, informed the court that the ancient temple owns several acres of land in the locality. He alleged that nearly four acres had been encroached upon and that despite submitting a representation as early as 2016, the HR&CE Department had failed to take any effective action.
He further contended that the inaction of officials had resulted in the loss of valuable temple property and sought disciplinary proceedings against the responsible officers.
When the matter had previously come up, a Division Bench comprising Justices S.M. Subramaniam and C. Kumarappan had issued directions and ordered the HR&CE Joint Commissioner to appear in person.
During the latest hearing, Joint Commissioner Sabarmathi appeared before the Bench and placed on record the steps purportedly taken by the department.
After reviewing the submissions, the judges sharply criticised the department’s functioning. The Bench observed that HR&CE officials draw salaries specifically to protect temple properties but are failing to discharge that responsibility.
The court termed the approach of the officials highly condemnable and noted that similar negligence has resulted in the loss of properties belonging to several temples.
The Bench made it clear that such lapses would no longer be tolerated.
The High Court directed that disciplinary action be initiated against officials who failed to act on the encroachment complaints.
It also ordered authorities to recover losses from individuals who had utilised temple lands without authorisation.
With these directions, the court disposed of the petition.
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