It is not enough to just recover temple properties under encroachment, the monetary loss suffered by the religious institutions due to the illegality too, should be recovered from the encroachers. The government officials who facilitated such alienation of the properties must be subjected to both disciplinary proceedings as well as criminal prosecution, the Madras High Court has ordered.
Disposing of a writ petition filed for retrieving properties belonging to various temples, Justice S.M. Subramaniam wrote: “It is unfortunate that the provisions of the Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Act of 1959 has not been implemented in an effective manner by the competent authorities resulted in looting of the temple properties in a large-scale manner across the State of Tamil Nadu.”
The judge pointed out that the State government had taken over administration of temples in the State only because of allegations of misappropriation against trustees and other administrators. Therefore, after taking over, it becomes the bounden duty of the government to ensure that the HR&CE officials implement the law in letter and spirit and protect temple properties from encroachments.
“Unfortunately, scrupulous implementation of the Act and the Rules framed thereunder are lacking for several years which has resulted in looting of temple properties by greedy men and persons with muscle power and even by politicians. Undoubtedly, such large-scale allegations and illegalities may not happen without the collusion of the department officials,” the judge observed.
He took serious note of the allegations levelled by the writ petitioner that the properties of as many as seven major temples in Krishnagiri district were under encroachment and that the lands had been used for illegal mining to the tune of nearly ₹200 crore. Expressing shock over the claim, the judge said there was need for fixing personal liability on the government officials concerned.
“The officials not functioning in the interest of the temple are to be identified and their work performance are to be monitored and the Head of the Department is bound to initiate all appropriate actions. If the Head of the Department itself is not functioning efficiently, then the Government has to initiate all appropriate actions. Thus, any lapses or negligence must be viewed seriously,” the court ordered.
