Worshipping God is every individual's right: Madras High Court directs enquiry into affairs of Madurai temple closed since 2011

While saying that every individual had the right to worship God, the Madras High Court recently directed the Tamil Nadu government to enquire into the affairs of a Madurai temple that has been closed for over a decade owing to a dispute between two private parties. [K Seeni Thevar v. The Joint Commissioner and others]..Justice K Kumaresh Babu of the Madurai Bench of the High Court was hearing a petition filed by a resident of Madurai, who claimed that the said temple belonged to his ancestors. .The petitioner, K Seeni Thevar, challenged a notice issued by the caretaker of the said temple that announced that the temple will open to the public from October 7 this year.Thevar claimed that due to personal disputes between some members of his community, the temple had been closed since 2011. The 'fit person,' or the caretaker appointed by the High Court in 2018, however, had unilaterally decided to open the temple gates for the public, he claimed..While Justice Babu noted that the caretaker had no authority to issue such notice for the opening, he also said that a temple meant for the public to worship their God should not remain shut due to personal disputes. "In the light of the fact that the worshipping of a god is a right of every individual according to his personal faith, it would be appropriate to direct the first respondent (Department) herein to conduct an enquiry into the affairs of the temple under the provisions of the HR & CE Act [The Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act], and decide the rights of the parties in accordance with law as expeditiously as possible," the Court said in its order. The Court also noted that though the petitioner claimed that the temple belonged to a particular community, no steps were taken to declare the temple as a private temple to substantiate his claim. Thus, in the interest of justice, the Court directed the Joint Commissioner of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department to conduct an enquiry as expeditiously as possible, within six months of the date of receipt of the order. .Advocate C Selvaraj appeared for the petitioner. Special Government Pleader D Gandhiraj and Advocate S Manohar appeared for the respondents..[Read Order]