The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed its satisfaction at an affidavit of undertaking filed by the erstwhile Travancore royal family concerning the progress made in the change of management at Sri Padmanabha Swamy temple in Kerala.
A Bench led by Justice U.U. Lalit noted that the affidavit is “completely consistent” with the directions given by the court in its July verdict.
The court had declared the former royals as the manager or shebait of the properties of Sri Padmanabha, the chief deity of the famed temple in Thiruvananthapuram.
The court clarified that if the Thiruvananthapuram District Judge is of another faith, the seniormost Additional District Judge in the district could be appointed as the chairperson of the temple administrative committee. The July verdict says the administrators should be Hindus.
The Bench said a retired judge of the Kerala High Court nominated by the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court will be the chairperson of the advisory committee.
The court said the committees should start implementing the directions in the July verdict in four weeks.
‘Public temple’
The court had in July accepted the royals’ submission that the Padmanabha Swamy temple was a “public temple.” It however issued a slew of directions for its transparent administration in the future.
Besides the Thiruvananthapuram District Judge as its chairperson, the other members of the administrative committee include a nominee of the trustee (royal family), the chief thanthri of the temple, a nominee of the State and a member nominated by the Union Ministry of Culture. This committee panel would take care of the daily administration of the temple.
It also ordered a second committee to be constituted to advise the administrative committee on policy matters. Both committees should start functioning within the next two months and an executive officer should be appointed without delay.
Primary duties
The primary duties of the committees would be to preserve the treasures and properties. They would take a call on whether to open Kallara B, considered to be the richest among the temple vaults, for inventorisation.
The committees would ensure that rituals and religious practices are conducted as per custom and on the advice of the Chief Thantri.
The court said the committees would ensure that income to the temple would be used to augment the facilities. It ordered an audit to be conducted for the past 25 years. Audited accounts and the balance sheet should be annually filed with the office of the Accountant General for the State. The royal family will not take any remuneration for the services they render to the temple.
The idea of setting up these committees was initially suggested by the royal family itself and the court found it “quite balanced” and not loaded in favour of them.
The court ordered status reports to be filed by the second week of December 2020. A further report should be filed after audit on March 31, 2021.
