A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Wednesday deprecated in the strongest words the decision of the State government and the Thiruvananthapuram District Collector to impose a ban on Pithrutharpanam on the Shanghumughom beach on the Karkkidaka Vavubali day on Thursday without consulting the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB).
The Bench comprising Justice Anil K. Narendran and Justice P.G. Ajithkumar while dealing with a petition filed by the Bharatiya Jyothisha Vichara Sangam, Kollam, observed that before imposing any prohibition on the performance of Pithrutharpanam on Karakkidaka Vavu on the Shanghumughom beach, the District Disaster Management Authority ought to have convened a meeting with a notice to the TDB.
The procedure adopted by the District Collector who is the Chairperson of the District Disaster Management Authority in convening a meeting on July 11 without a notice to the TDB “is per se arbitrary and illegal,” the court added.
The court also pulled up the TDB for not taking any action to protect the interests of people who used to perform Pithrutharpanam on the Shanghumughom beach by utilising the facilities of the TDB.
The court, however, said that it did not propose to go into the legality or otherwise of the prohibition order as the board had not made any arrangements on the beach for performing Pithrutharpanam.
The Bench also ordered that any decision taken by the District Disaster Management Authority to impose a prohibition on Pithrutharpanam on the Shanghumughom beach shall be with due notice to the TDB except in cases where exigencies demand immediate decision by the authority.
