J.S. JAYACHANDRAN AND OTHERS Vs. TEMPLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE, KOOTTAPPANA MAJOR SREE MAHADEVA TEMPLE, NEYYATTINKARA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The vice President and three members of the present Temple Advisory Committee of the Koottappana Major Sree Mahadeva Temple, Neyyattinkara has filed this writ petition with a seemingly innocuous prayer to have a general body convened and elections conducted for the purpose of constituting a new Committee when the term of the present Committee expires on 03.03.2018.

(2.) We notice that there are several allegations and averments contained in the writ petition against respondents 1 to 3, who are the present Temple Advisory Committee and its President and Secretary respectively. As we have already noticed above, the first petitioner is, in fact, the Vice President of the said Committee and broadly his allegation herein appears to be that the present Committee has been in office continuously and uninterruptedly for the last ten years, which, according to him, is illegal and contrary to the applicable Scheme of Management, wherein the term of a Committee is limited to be two years. He also makes certain allegations against the said Committee with respect to the conduct of gold covering of the Thazhikakkudam in the previous years and relating to purchase of gold for such activity. We are not proposing to go into these allegations in detail, since we are of the opinion that it is up to the Travancore Devaswom Board to take action on such allegations, when instances are brought to their notice in terms of law.

(3.) For the present, our attention is deserving only to the question as to whether a new Committee has to be constituted when the term of the present Committee expires on 002018. It may not be necessary for us to labour much on this question because it is without contest that even as per the mandate of the applicable Scheme, a new Committee will have to be constituted and brought into being before the date of the term of the present Committee expires. The only claim of the respondents against this is that their term of one year, which expires on 002018, be extended by another year.