The order of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department that mandated temples to donate to CM Relief Fund was withdrawn after the Madras High Court found the order legally unjustified.
The Bench comprising of Justices Vineet Kothari and Pushpa Sathyanarayana after hearing the three public interest litigations (PIL) ruled that the order circulated on April 22 was legally untenable. The PIL was filed by T R Ramesh, President of the Hindu Temple Worshippers Society, Tamil daily Dinamalar editor R R Gopaljee and one another person.
The department has now issued a new circular that sought to withdraw the order issued on April 22, citing ‘administrative reasons’.
Mr. Ramesh contended that the HR&CE Commissioner cannot pass an order under Section 36-B of HRCE Act, 1959 when he himself was the sanctioning authority. Section 36-B of the Act provides for the utilization of surplus temple funds for the purpose of annadhanam (feeding the poor). This section was introduced in 1983 during MGR’s rule.
The counsel for the State Government told the bench that the HR&CE Commissioner would withdraw the order and file an affidavit on Friday (May 9). However, the judges mentioned that it would need to issue a circular that nullified the earlier order.
The HR&CE’s April 22nd order faced flak and was resisted by Hindu devotees and priests who demanded that the Edappadi K Palaniswami government withdraw the circular immediately.