Chidambaram Nataraja Temple: Supreme Court Stays Madras HC Board Order

The Supreme Court on Wednesday, 4 November, stayed a Madras High Court judgment that had directed a five-member Board of Management to take over the Chidambaram Nataraja Temple in Tamil Nadu from the Podhu Dikshitars. A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul Pancholi issued notice on the Dikshitars’ special leave petition and passed the interim order, according to reports by Bar & Bench, LiveLaw and Verdictum. The High Court had passed its judgment on 30 October.

Temple Administration Stays With Dikshitars for Now

Until the Supreme Court decides otherwise, the High Court’s board will not take charge. The board was to be headed by retired High Court judges, with a retired IAS officer as a member and the Dikshitars’ secretary and the HR&CE Department secretary as ex-officio members. The High Court had said daily rituals and festivals would remain with the Dikshitars.

What the High Court Found and What Each Side Argued

The High Court upheld a May 2022 government order allowing devotees to have darshan from the Kanagasabai, and recorded maladministration in the upkeep of the heritage structure and in the accounting of temple properties. It ordered the board to run the temple “till the ill is cured”.

Also read UAPA Bail: Foreign Nationality Alone Is No Bar, Supreme Court Rules

Senior Advocate C S Vaidyanathan, for the Dikshitars, argued that the High Court went beyond the darshan dispute and that a 1951 judgment recognising their right to administer the temple had become final. Advocate J Sai Deepak said the three writ petitions concerned only the 2022 order. Senior Advocate Shekhar Naphade, for Tamil Nadu, pointed to a Heritage Commission report on alterations to the structure and to unaudited accounts. The bench asked whether any material showed the Dikshitars were responsible for the alterations.

State’s Reply Is Awaited

Tamil Nadu’s counsel sought time to file a reply. The reports do not mention a date for the next hearing. For more court coverage, see IPB News Daily Updates.

Source: Based on reporting by Bar & Bench, LiveLaw and Verdictum.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.