MOORKOTH PRAKASH Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner herein has approached this Court seeking for a declaration that any restriction imposed on the devotees in the matter of wearing of clothes inside the Nalambalam of the Temples in Kerala has to be declared as unreasonable. Accordingly, he is seeking for a direction to the respondents to permit the devotees to enter into the place immediately surrounding the sanctum sanctorum (Nalambalam) to wear clothes in the form of shirt, baniyan, jubba, etc.

(2.) GOING by the averments in the writ petition, the petitioner is a person from Pollachi in Coimbatore District of Tamil Nadu who came to Kerala on 22.1.2014 and he visited Sree Subramanya Swami Temple situated at Payyannur. The first respondent in the writ petition is the State of Kerala represented by the Secretary to Government, Devaswom Department, the second respondent is Malabar Devaswom Board represented by its Commissioner, the third respondent is Travancore Devaswom Board represented by its Commissioner, the fourth respondent is Cochin Devaswom Board represented by its Commissioner and the fifth respondent is Guruvayoor Devaswom Board represented by its Commissioner.

(3.) WE heard learned counsel for the petitioner Shri P.N. Vishnu Namboodiri, learned Government Pleader and learned Standing Counsel for the respective Devaswom Boards.