A public interest litigation petition has been filed in the Madras High Court Bench here with respect to discontinuation of golden temple car procession in Tiruchendur Subramaniaswamy Temple following an increase in car pulling charges from Rs.1,500 to Rs.2,500 from each devotee.
When the case filed by advocate S. Muthukumar came up before a Division Bench comprising Justice V. Ramasubramanian and Justice V.M. Velumani on Wednesday, they ordered notice to Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) Department and adjourned the hearing by two weeks.
The judges directed the petitioner to include 18 ‘Kaingariya Thirisuthanthirargal’ (people who assist in the car procession) as respondents to the case after it was represented that they had refused to assist until the government clarified the amount to which they were entitled to out of the increased charges.
According to official documents placed before the Bench, the Joint Commissioner-cum-Executive Officer of the temple had written to the HR and CE Commissioner way back in July 2011 seeking permission to increase the temple car pulling charges from Rs.1,500 to Rs.3,000.
On January 27, 2012, the Commissioner granted permission to increase the charge to Rs.2,500. Yet the charges were not increased from Rs.1,500 for over two years.
Only on March 14 this year, the Executive Officer directed the temple superintendent to increase it forthwith.
However, the increase was withheld temporarily at the request of Tiruchendur Assistant Electoral Officer who cited the model code of conduct which was in force at that time in view of the Lok Sabha elections. Finally, it was decided to increase the charges from May 27.
However, the Kaingariya Thirisunthanthirargal refused to cooperate in the conduct of the procession and hence it had to be suspended abruptly, the records pointed out.
They also stated that efforts were on to convince the Thirisunthanthirargal and the secretary of their association.
