SRI-LA-SRI SATHYA GNANA MAHADEVA DESIKA PARAMACHARIYA Vs. COMMISSIONER, HINDU RELIGIOUS AND CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT DEPT.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Writ Petition is filed to call for the records relating to the notice in R.C.No.48212/2002/D1, dtd. 11/7/2002. Subsequently, the said showcause notice was amended by another show-cause notice, dtd. 12/1/2010, and accordingly, the prayer in the Writ Petition has also been amended to challenge the show-cause notice as amended on 12/1/2010.

(2.) The factual background from which the Writ Petition arises is that Arulmighu Thiyaagaraaja Swami Thirukoil is an ancient temple. The presiding deity of the temple is Sri Thiyaagaraaja Swamy. The Aazhi Ther (temple chariot) is the largest in South India and is widely renowned. A peculiar feature of the temple is that there are no properties directly registered in the temple's name. Thirteen kattalais oversee all the activities of the temple. Each of the kattalais manages several hectares landed properties and provides for the temple's needs. Among the 13 kattalais, Abisheka kattalai, Annadhana kattalai, and Rajan kattalai are the most significant. For both the Abhisheka kattalai and Annadhana kattalai, the Aadheena karthars of the Velakurichi Mutt serve as the hereditary trustees. At the time of filing the present Writ Petition, the petitioner's father, Sri-laSri Ajappa Nateswara Pandara Sannathi, was the hereditary trustee, and now, Sri-la-Sri Sathya Gnana Mahadeva Desika Paramacharya Swamigal, the Aadheena karthar, is the current hereditary trustee.

(3.) It is the case of the petitioner that between the years 1817 and 1842, the property management of these kattalais was taken over by the British Government and was subsequently returned. In the year 1910, a scheme was framed for the administration of these two kattalais, and it is stated that the same was upheld. While so, in the year 1927, the Madras Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1927 was enacted. In the said Act, Chapter VI-A was introduced by an amendment via Act IX of 1937, enabling the then Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Board to notify the temples and specific endowments governed by a scheme in cases of mismanagement. On 25/5/1937, by a notification via G.O.No.638, the Government appointed Executive Officers for the aforesaid two kattalais on 12/7/1937. When a similar exercise was conducted concerning yet another kattalai, namely, Rajan kattalai, the hereditary trustee therein, being the Dharmapuram Aadheenam, challenged the notification by way of a suit in C.S.No.20 of 1938, which ultimately ended in a compromise whereby the property management was promised to be returned to the Mutt, and the Mutt then became liable to submit all accounts to the supervision of the board. The Act of 1927 was repealed by the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1956. The very same Chapter VI-A in Act of 1927 found its place in Chapter VI of the Act of 1951. It also provided that the notifications issued under the erstwhile Act would be deemed to be notifications under the current Act as well.