The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday dismissed a petition that sought a direction to authorities to appoint persons having no political affiliation as members of the Board of Trustees and the Chairperson of the Board of Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple.
A Division Bench of Justices C.V. Karthikeyan and R. Sakthivel, while hearing the petition filed by T. Geethalakshmi of Madurai, said the petition was premature as the tenure of the current Board of Trustees was continuing.
The petitioner said the present trustees were associated with political organisations. They were directly or indirectly associated with politics. It appeared that the authorities at the relevant time appointed political persons as trustees in violation of the provisions of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Act.
The appointment of trustees could not be based merely on political will. Opportunity must be given to all devotees and the process of selection must be transparent. If political interference continued, it might adversely affect the temple administration. In a historically important and sacred temple, only trustees who had no political affiliation could properly follow the Agama rules, she said.
The petitioner said the authorities should appoint persons having no political affiliation as trustees and the Chairperson of the Board, strictly in accordance with the provisions of the HR&CE Act and the guidelines issued, and ensure that such persons were appointed transparently, honestly and impartially.
Published – September 18, 2026 08:40 pm IST
