Let there not be any difference between the poor and rich, say judges
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday issued a series
of 22 directions to Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments
(HR&CE) Department for proper upkeep of over 36,000 temples under
its control. The first of those directions was to ensure that all Pujas
in the temples were performed only by “legally appointed” priests.
A
Division Bench of Justices M.V. Muralidaran and T. Krishnavalli issued
the directions after hearing a public interest litigation petition
through video conferencing facility from Chennai. The judges appreciated
all principal district judges in the State for having filed detailed
reports with respect to the upkeep of temples within their
jurisdictions.
After perusing those reports, the Bench directed
the HR&CE Commissioner to ensure that all devotees were treated
equally by the temple authorities without any differences between the
poor and the rich because “all are equal before the Lord almighty.” The
executive officers of individual temples must be instructed to ensure
such equality, it added.
Free darshan queues should not be
curtailed or restricted in order to promote paid darshan which could be
utilised only for the purpose of augmenting the income of the temples,
the judges said.
The other directions issued by the judges include
installation of biometric devices to record attendance of temple staff
including the priests, a prohibition on demand for more money by the
priests from the devotees for performing special pujas, providing toilet
facilities around all temples within three months and maintaining a
hygienic atmosphere.
The court also ordered for installation of
sign boards in Tamil and English inside the temples to help devotees
reach the sanctum sanctorum of different deities, providing drinking
water in all temples within three months and retrieving temple
properties as well as shops from encroachments and illegal occupation
within six months.
Taking note of the complaints of theft of
ancient idols from temples, the judges wanted the HR and CE commissioner
to file a detailed report by January 22 on the number of closed circuit
television cameras that would be required to keep a vigil over the
temple properties. A centralised control room could also be established
in Chennai, they said.
Authoring the order, Mr. Justice
Muralidaran insisted upon the need to ban plastic carrybags and water
packets inside temples and planting of large number of saplings around
every temple premises. It was ordered that temple structures should be
renovated periodically and price charts should be displayed prominently
near Prasadam stalls.
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