MADURAI: The Madras high court on Friday granted stay on the amendment made to Rule 17 of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious Institutions Employees (Conditions of Service) Rules, 2020, pertaining to the transfer of temple employees.
A division bench of justices Pushpa Sathyanarayana and P Velmurugan passed the interim order on a petition filed by S Sudharsanam, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Senior Grade Temple Staffs Association of Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple at Madurai.
The petitioner stated that the GO dated October 26, 2021, passed by the tourism, culture and religious endowments department, made an amendment to Rule 17 by adding a sub-rule 4 which states 'Notwithstanding anything contained in this rule, the commissioner may, in the interest of administration of religious institutions, transfer employees of any religious institution to any other religious institution having executive officer of the same grade."
