Woman judge takes charge of Kerala temple

KP Indira, the principal additional sessions judge here, on Saturday took charge as the head of the administration of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple as directed by the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court’s interim order on the administration of the temple came on Thursday on the recommendations of amicus curiae Gopal Subramaniam, who had sought overhauling of the functioning of the temple.

The order said that if the district judge is not a Hindu, the administration should be handed over to the next seniormost judge.

As soon as the court order came, district judge Sunil P Thomas on Friday evening asked Indira to take over the charge of the temple administration.

The apex court bench of Justice RM Lodha and Justice AK Patnaik has also asked former comptroller and auditor general (CAG) Vinod Rai to undertake the audit of the temple accounts and properties, for the past quarter of a century.

The court also appointed senior Indian Administrative Service officer and former administrator of the Guruvayur temple KN Satish as the executive officer of the temple.

Satish is, however, expected to take charge only next month as he is currently on election duty in Andhra Pradesh.

The five-member committee will comprise Indira, the temple’s tantri and chief nambi and two more members, of which one will be appointed in consultation with the state government and one would be selected by Indira.