P.M.BHASKARAN MADAYAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) At a time when several questions are raised qua the administration of Temples in the Malabar area of Kerala and when the Trustees of such Temples seek to assert their autonomy, to the extent to which the applicable Statute and Rules permit, the issues impelled herein, though done more than eight to ten years ago, during the period which these writ petitions have been pending before this Court, still have a distinct contemporaneous importance.

(2.) Various Temples in the Malabar area and its Administrators are before us in these writ petitions.

(3.) The challenge in these writ petitions are primarily two: (a) Against the levy made on the Religious Institutions and Temples by the erstwhile Madras Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, which is now the Malabar Devaswom Board, under Sections 76(1) and 76(2) of the Madras Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act , 1951 ('the Act' for short) and (b) Against the demand made under the provisions of the Malabar Temple Employees Welfare Fund Scheme, 1993 ('the Scheme' for short).