A Full Bench of the Kerala High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by the State government seeking to review the Bench’s verdict holding that the Guruvayur Devaswom managing committee had no power to donate amounts from the devaswom fund either to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) or to any other government agencies under the provision of the Guruvayur Devaswom Act.
The Bench while dismissing the review petition observed that none of the reasons projected in support would make out any error apparent on the face of the record to justify interference by exercising the review jurisdiction.
The State government in its review petition contended that as per the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the decisions of the managing committee to donate money to the CMDRF for helping the deserving population affected by the flood of 2018 as well as the COVI-19 pandemic could not be interfered with.
Since donations were intended to help the needy, including the worshippers of Guruvayurappan, the decisions of the committee were strictly in accordance with the provisions of the of the Guruvayur Devaswom Act of 1978.
