Appointment of priests subject to result of case: HC

All cases on the subject to be listed on December 15

Awaiting clarity: The court has ruled that there must be no breach in following the particular agama relevant for the particular temple while appointing priests.

The Madras High Court on Wednesday ordered that appointment of priests in temples managed by Fit Persons (interim administrators appointed by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department) shall be subject to the result of a case which claimed that only trustees are entitled to make such appointments.

The First Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P.D. Audikesavalu passed the interim order following a public interest litigation petition filed by T.R. Ramesh, president of Temple Worshippers Society, based in Chennai. After preliminary arguments advanced by the litigant’s counsel M.R. Venkatesh, the judges wrote that the petitioner had challenged the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious Institutions Employees (Conditions of Service) Rules of 2020.

The rules had come into effect from September 4, 2020, and the principal grievance of the litigant was that Rule 2(1)(c) which permits a Fit Person to make appointments goes against the grain of the parent statute — the HR&CE Act of 1959, under which the power was vested with trustees.

The petitioner contended that the statutory rules pave the way for tinkering with the sacrosanct

agamas (religious text on temple rituals) by permitting appointments without insisting upon the need for the appointee to have learnt the agama sastra followed in a particular temple.

He claimed that the archaka (priest) must have been trained only in the specific agama that was relevant to the particular temple, and it was not permissible to mix up even between the two vaishnava agamas or between any of the 26 saiva agamas .

Finding that the petitioner had made out a

prima facie case, the judges ordered notice to the State Government and called for a counter affidavit within four weeks.

The petitioner was given two weeks thereafter to file his reply, and the case was adjourned by seven weeks.

“Any appointments made in the meantime will abide by the result of the petition since it, prima facie , appears that the appointment by a Fit Person may not be the appropriate form under the Act of 1959,” the judges said and impressed upon the need to appoint trustees for all temples.

Although the Bench refused to stay the operation of the statutory rules under challenge, it made clear that “there must be no breach in following the particular Agama which is relevant for the particular temple for which an appointment is made.”

The Bench directed the High Court Registry to tag the present case along with cases already pending in the court challenging the appointment of archakas from all castes, and list them together for hearing on December 15.