The Pothu Dikshithars, hereditary custodians-cum-archakas of Sri Sabanayagar temple, popularly known as Sri Natarajar temple in Chidambaram have called upon the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) Department to drop the proposed inspection of the temple on June 7 and 8 contending that the authorities had no jurisdiction to call for records or make an inspection in the denominational temple at will.
In a detailed reply to C. Jothi, Deputy Commissioner-cum-Verification Officer of HR and CE Department in Cuddalore, Hemasabesa Dikshithar, secretary of the Pothu Dikshithars committee contended that the HR and CE Department had no jurisdiction of administration in this temple and this is fortified by Section 107 of the Tamil Nadu HR and CE Act, 1959.
Referring to the Department’s letter seeking details of income/expenditure records, the committee of Pothu Dikshithars requested the authorities to specify any particular transaction or limited period for which details are required and state the reasons for seeking such details.
The temple has no landed properties, including Kattalai lands under its administration and the Kattalai lands are being administered by the Special Tahsildar — temple lands as ordered by the government through a G.O., the committee said in its reply.
The committee argued the provisions of Sections 29, 30, and 31 relating to the maintenance of certain registers would not apply to this temple. However, necessary registers are maintained by this temple administration and entries regarding properties are recorded in a proper manner, it claimed..
The committee claimed that the primary registers that need to be maintained under Section 29 of the TN HR and CE Act, 1959 or under section 25 of the Madras HR and CE Act, 1951, or under section 38 of the Madras Religious Endowments Act, 1926, have totally vanished from various other temples that are under the administrative control of the Department. The mandatory practice of recording and maintaining registers under Sections 30 and 31 of the TN HR and CE Act, 1959 is completely absent in the temples administered by the department for more than four decades, the committee said in its reply.
On the plea seeking an estimate report of jewels and valuables, the committee said that the Department was yet to furnish the report of verification of jewels carried out in the temple before 2006. The Department should submit the verification report at least now so that we can go through it. Only thereafter, can a fresh verification take place, the committee said.
“It is our intention to give full cooperation to a validly formed committee that has jurisdiction of verification and audit. As per Section 107 of the 1959 Act read with judicial orders, it is amply clear that the HR and CE Department or its authorities do not have such a jurisdiction to automatically call for records or make an inspection in this denominational temple at will,” the committee said.
Therefore, the Department should drop the intended inspection and calling of records in adherence to the orders of the Madras High Court and the Apex court, the committee added.
