New Delhi, October 3
The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Tamil Nadu Government and the state’s Commissioner of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department on a petition alleging deputation of government employees to run Hindu temples in violation of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959.
A Bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud asked the Tamil Nadu Government and Commissioner of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department to respond in three weeks to the petition filed by TR Ramesh after senior counsel CS Vaidyanathan submitted on his behalf that deputing government servants to run temples ‘wipes out the separation of state and religion’.
“In a secular state, temples can’t be treated as a part of the government. It is unfortunate that 46,000 temples are now under the control of the state… Now, government employees are being sent there. It’s being treated as a department of the government,” he submitted.
The Bench wanted to know the number of government employees deputed to various temples.
Under the 1959 Act, temple trustees are the sole authorities to appoint employees for the administration of the temples.
However, in 19,000 non-hereditary temples in Tamil Nadu, no trustees had been appointed by the authorities concerned for the past 11 years, the petitioners said, adding that now, the state government was deputing government employees to run temples in the state.
