The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court that it had decided not to undertake gold plating of the sanctum sanctorum of the Tirumala temple.
Sridhar Potaraju, counsel for TTD Executive Officer I.Y.R. Krishna Rao, made the submission before a Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and A.K. Ganguly.
Specified Authority
Mr. Potaraju said that after the Supreme Court stayed the Andhra Pradesh High Court's November 29, 2010 judgment holding as illegal and unconstitutional the plan for gold plating of the sanctum sanctorum, the State government appointed a Specified Authority in place of the erstwhile Board.
The Authority decided not to implement the resolution to coat the sanctum sanctorum with gold. It also decided to give those who donated cash or gold the option of either a refund of the full amount/quantity of the gold or using their donations for other purposes. It said a total of Rs. 12 crore in cash and 94.80 kg of gold were received.
Acting on writ petitions filed by president of the Devalayaparirakshna Samiti G. Raghava Reddy, Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy and the Parameswara Seva Samithi, the High Court had said, “Any meddling with the ancient inscriptions on the walls of the sanctum sanctorum would amount to interfering with the religious aspects of the institution, and it can't form part of any secular activity, and as such the same is without any jurisdiction.”
Threat to inscriptions
The petitioners contended that gold plating would destroy the rare inscriptions having religious value. Furthermore, the main temple would be weakened by the drilling of more than 1,400 rivets into the walls required for gold plating.
On an appeal from the former TTD Chairman, D.K. Audikesavalu Naidu, the Supreme Court stayed the High Court judgment on February 28, 2011.
On Tuesday, Dr. Swamy filed an application for his being impleaded in the case and sought a direction to restrain the TTD from undertaking the gold plating during the next two months. The Bench allowed the impleadment of Dr. Swamy.
The Bench said that in view of the TTD's undertaking, “we don't consider it necessary to pass any order or to modify our order dated February 28. We make it clear that if the TTD reviews its decision, it must take permission of this court.”
