‘Exclusive rights over temple rituals’, TN defends defying HC order in SC

NEW DELHI: While continuing its defiance of orders from Madras HC allowing lighting of the ‘Karthigai Deepam’ atop Thiruparankundram hills, Tamil Nadu’s DMK govt connected Friday requested Supreme Court for an aboriginal proceeding connected its entreaty but got nary specified assurance from CJI Surya Kant.When a counsel mentioned TN’s entreaty earlier a seat of CJI Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, referring it to arsenic an contented of “lighting of a lamp connected a hilltop” and urging for an urgent hearing, the CJI said helium would see its listing arsenic soon arsenic possible. The authorities govt defended its enactment of not complying with the HC orders allowing the accepted lighting of ‘deepam’ astatine the chromatic lamp pillar connected the Thirupparankundram hillock adjacent Madurai connected the crushed that legally it had exclusive rights implicit rituals and customs of Uchi Pillayar temple.HC had allowed the ‘deepam’, saying it would not encroach the rights of the adjacent dargah. The bid passed by a single-judge seat was upheld by a part bench.Appearing for a caveator, advocator P V Yogeswaran said that connected the 1 hand, TN is repeatedly defying the HC’s orders, and connected the other, it is “creating a drama” by filing an entreaty successful SC to dissuade HC from proceeding with the contempt proceedings initiated against authorities for blatant, brazen and deliberate defiance of HC’s orders.

In its entreaty successful SC, the MK Stalin-led DMK govt said HC cannot usage its “contempt jurisdiction” to question temple rituals and customs, which are wrong the exclusive domain of authorities nether TN Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Act, 1959.The single-judge seat connected Wednesday initiated contempt proceedings against officials aft the ‘deepam’ was lit astatine the temple, not astatine the ‘deepathoon’ atop the hill, arsenic directed by it connected Dec 1.

TN’s entreaty against this bid was dismissed by the part bench.The DMK govt successful its entreaty successful SC said the temple’s management, including the country nether ‘deepathoon’ was nether its exclusive control, and that it had passed prohibitory orders to guarantee information of citizens and instrumentality attraction of imaginable instrumentality and bid situations. “The impugned judgement (of HC) raises important questions regarding the limits of contempt jurisdiction, the autonomy of temple absorption nether statutory schemes, the effect of anterior civilian decrees and writ precedents, and the interface betwixt judicial orders and enforcement instrumentality and bid measures,” it said.The entreaty elaborate the tussle betwixt HC and authorities. HC’s single-judge seat astatine 6.05pm connected Dec 3 ordered authorities to let the petitioner to spell to the hilltop to airy the lamp, and astir the aforesaid time, the territory collector issued prohibitory orders nether Section 163 of the BNSS (Section 144 of CrPC) prohibiting persons from climbing the hillock to forestall a instrumentality and bid situation.The part bench, portion dismissing the state’s appeal, had said the enforcement orders nether Section 162 of the BNSS cannot override judicial directions, and noted evident manipulation/timing of prohibitory orders. It said the entreaty was a “well-designed act” to pre-empt contempt. It said the single-judge would determine whether the non-compliance of its orders was wilful.