'Condition of Kerala temple pathetic'

 A fresh administrative committee, under the chairmanship of Thiruvanathapuram district judge, was set up on Thursday by the apex court for better management of Kerala’s Sree Padamanabhswamy Temple.

The court passed a slew of directions relying upon the 500-page report of amicus curiae senior advocate Gopal Subramaniam, who found that the condition in the temple, being managed by Travancore royal family members as trustees, was pathetic with systemic and regular pilferage.

As senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for Marthanda Varma, a royal family member, Additional Solicitor General K V Viswanathan, representing Kerala and Subramaniam argued over names of the people to be included in the administrative and executive committees, the bench said, “This is not an ordinary temple.

The situation is also not such where ordinary management will be able to manage. We need good people for the purpose. This is the need of the hour.”

Taking a cue from Ahmadnagar’s Shirdi temple, the court said, in case of Sree Padamanabhaswamy’s also, the district judge or the seniormost judicial officer in case of farmer being non-Hindu could be appointed ex-officio in charge of the administrative committee.

The five-member panel will comprise the Thiruvananthapuram district judge, a tantri and chief nambi of the temple and two more members, of which one will be appointed in consultation with the state government. The bench also appointed senior IAS officer Satish Kumar, who had experience of having served at Guruvayoor Devasam, as executive officer until further orders.

The administrative committee was also been ordered by the court to take care of cleaning of the passage inside the temple, which was found to be full of dirt by the amicus curiae, and ensure proper facilities for police personnel, guarding the temple.

Former CAG Rai, who estimated 2G scam loss as Rs 1.76 lakh crore and coal scam as Rs 1.86 lakh crore, has also been asked to undertake special audit with assistance from officers of his own choice.