Endowment department told to deposit Rs 35 lakh in contempt plea

The Karnataka High Court on Friday directed S P Shadakshari Swami, commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department to deposit Rs 35 lakh with the court for not following court orders.

A division bench comprising Justice Jayant Patel and Justice S Sujatha passed an order hearing a contempt petition filed by employees of the Sri Kukke Subrahmanya temple.

The petitioners had approached the court seeking the fifth and sixth pay commission’s benefits on par with the payment made to the employees of Tirumala temple, from the endowment department. The single bench had directed the endowment department to make the payment in January 2016. However, the commissioner of the endowment department failed to make any payment to the employees of the temple. The employees approached the court with a contempt petition for not following the single bench order.

The division bench asked the commissioner of Endowment Department to deposit Rs 35 lakh with the court. The government counsel said  they have filed a review application and hope to get a stay on the single bench order.