Kerala HC stays use of temple funds for officials’ travel to Global Ayyappa Sangamam
A plea has sought the direction to require participants to bear their own expenses.
A plea has sought the direction to require participants to bear their own expenses.
A plea has sought the direction to require participants to bear their own expenses.
Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Friday stayed a Malabar Devaswom Board (MDB) order permitting officials of shrines under it, who volunteered to attend the Global Ayyappa Sangam, to use temple funds to cover their travel and food expenses.
A division bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan and K V Jayakumar observed that temple funds cannot be diverted for “extraneous” purposes. “Temple funds, being trust property held for the minor deity and derived from devotees’ contributions and temple assets, cannot be diverted to purposes unrelated to temple administration and management,” the court said, adding that the September 18 order “cannot be approved.”
The interim direction came on a plea by Ramachandran A V, a clerk at the Kinavoor Sri Kiratheswara Temple in Kasaragod. He argued that many temples under the Board are already facing financial strain, with delays in paying staff salaries and statutory benefits, making such diversion of funds “illegal, arbitrary and violative of devotees’ fundamental rights.”
The court issued notice to the state government, the Malabar Devaswom Commissioner, and the Board, seeking their stand on the plea.
The order in question authorised divisional inspectors from Kasaragod, Taliparamba, Thalassery, Manjeri, Perinthalmanna, Guruvayur, Ottapalam, and Palakkad, along with temple executive officers, to meet their travel, food, and vehicle expenses from temple accounts.
The plea has sought quashing of the order and a direction to require participants to bear their own expenses.
The Global Ayyappa Sangamam, organised by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) in association with the Kerala government to mark TDB’s 75th anniversary, is scheduled on Saturday.