Madras High Court
Sornam vs The District Collector on 21 March, 2025
Author: S.Srimathy
Bench: J.Nisha Banu, S.Srimathy
W.A(MD)No.414 of 2025
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT
DATED : 21.03.2025
CORAM:
THE HONOURABLE MRS.JUSTICE J.NISHA BANU
and
THE HONOURABLE MRS.JUSTICE S.SRIMATHY
W.A(MD)No.414 of 2025
and
C.M.P(MD)No.3221 of 2025
1.Sornam
2.Sundari
3.Selvarani ... Appellants/Petitioners
vs.
1.The District Collector,
Sivagangai District.
2.The Revenue Divisional Officer,
Devakottai,
Sivagangai District.
3.The Tahsildar,
Devakottai Taluk,
Sivagangai District.
4.The Superintendent of Police,
Sivagangai District.
1/7
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W.A(MD)No.414 of 2025
5.The Inspector of Police,
Aravayal Police Station,
Sivagangai District.
6.Subbaiah
7.K.Ashok Kumar ... Respondents/Respondents
PRAYER : Writ Appeal filed under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent against the
order dated 21.01.2025 made in W.P(MD)No.19769 of 2024 on the file of this
Court.
For Appellants : Mr.R.Balakrishnan
For RR 1 to 3 : Mr.S.S.Madhavan
Additional Government Pleader
For RR 4 & 5 : Mr.A.Albert James
Government Advocate (Criminal Side)
For R – 6 : Mr.S.Madhavan
JUDGMENT
(Judgment of the Court was delivered by S.SRIMATHY, J.)
The present Writ Appeal is filed by the writ petitioners in
W.P(MD)No.19769 of 2024 dated 21.01.2025.
2.Heard Mr.R.Balakrishnan, learned counsel appearing for the
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appellants, Mr.S.S.Madhavan, learned Additional Government Pleader appearing
for the respondents 1 to 3, Mr.A.Albert James, learned Government Advocate
(Criminal Side) appearing for the respondents 4 and 5 and Mr.S.Madhavan,
learned counsel appearing for the sixth respondent and perused the materials
available on record.
3.In the Writ Petition, the order impugned is dated 24.07.2024,
wherein it has been stated that lock and key will be with one Subbaiah. Aggrieved
over by the said observation, the Writ Petition was filed. The Writ Court has
recorded the fact that under Section 63(B) of the HR & CE Act, an application in
O.A.No.67 of 2024 has been filed by the sixth respondent for declaring hereditary
trustee and administration of the Temple and the same is pending. Hence, the Writ
Court had held that the writ petitioners can very well approach the Joint
Commissioner, HR & CE for appropriate relief and dismissed the Writ Petition.
4. Aggrieved over the observation that the lock and key ought to be
with the said Subbiah the present Writ Appeal is filed. Further it was contended
that the temple is not opened as per regular practice and regular timings. However
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the rival parties submitted that the temple is “village temple”, hence it would be
opened from 4 to 6 alone.
5. After considering the rival submission this Court is of the
considered opinion that an interim arrangement would redress the grievance of all
the parties. Therefore, the following order are passed:
i. Until the disposal of the said O.A.No.67 of 2024 to
declare the rights of the parties the lock and key shall be with the
said Subbaiah. However, this will not grant any right to Subbaiah
to claim that he is the hereditary trustee or the administrator of the
Temple. He has to independently prove his right by filing
documents. The authority shall consider the claims of the rival
parties uninfluenced by any of the observations passed by this
Court. The authority concerned shall consider the same only based
on the documents alone.
ii. The Temple will be opened daily in the evening
from 04.00 p.m. to 08.00 p.m.
iii. On Tuesdays and Fridays, the Temple will be
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opened in the morning from 08.00 a.m. to 12.00 a.m., and in the
evening from 04.00 p.m. to 08.00 p.m.
iii. On auspicious days also, the Temple will be
opened in the morning from 08.00 a.m. to 12.00 a.m., and in the
evening from 04.00 p.m. to 08.00 p.m.
iv. The Temple will also be opened on request.
6.With this above observation, this Writ Appeal is disposed of. There
shall be no order as to costs. Consequently, connected Miscellaneous Petition
stands closed.
[J.N.B.,J.] & [S.S.Y.,J.]
21.03.2025
NCC : Yes / No
Index : Yes / No
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To
1.The District Collector,
Sivagangai District.
2.The Revenue Divisional Officer,
Devakottai,
Sivagangai District.
3.The Tahsildar,
Devakottai Taluk,
Sivagangai District.
4.The Superintendent of Police,
Sivagangai District.
5.The Inspector of Police,
Aravayal Police Station,
Sivagangai District.
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J.NISHA BANU, J.
and
S.SRIMATHY, J.
ps
ORDER MADE IN
DATED : 21.03.2025
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