CHENNAI—’The power to appoint the temple staff, including the priest, rests only with the Trustee or Thakar; The Madras High Court has ordered that the priest appointment rules are not applicable to the temples that follow Agama rules. In it, qualifications were defined for appointing staff including priests in temples.
Investigation
All India Adi Saiva Sivacharyas Seva Sangh General Secretary Muthukumar, DR Ramesh from Chennai filed a case against certain provisions in the High Court. It was stated in the petitions that rules have been framed ignoring Agama rules and rituals and following this, priests cannot be appointed in Agama temples. Advocate P. Valliappan on behalf of Adi Saiva Sivachariyar Seva Sangam; On behalf of others, Senior Advocate Satish Parasaran, Advocates R.Parthasarathy, NR.Venkatesh, P.Jaganath; On behalf of the government, Advocate General R. Shanmugasundaram and Special Pleader Arun Natarajan also appeared. The order issued by the first bench after hearing the petitions: In the rules made in the last 2020, not only the trustee but also the appointed officer has been defined. In the absence of trustees, the Trustees are appointed by the Trustees Act.
In possession of the trustees
There is no doubt that the trustees have the right to make priestly appointments. But in the absence of trustees, one has to look after the temple functions. Hence, Thakar is appointed to exercise their powers. Therefore, the persons mentioned in the rules as appointing authority cannot be said to be against the law. At the same time, takkar should not last indefinitely. Trustees should be appointed soon. Only then, the management of the temple will be in the hands of the trustees. Qualifications, age for priestly appointments are laid down in rules 7 and 9. A one-year certificate course to qualify for priesthood; The rules also state that even if they have years of experience in performing puja, they cannot be appointed if they do not have the necessary qualifications. These rules cannot be said to be illegal. Because these rules apply not only to priests but also to other positions.
guidelines
Therefore, if these two rules are abrogated, there will be no guidelines for ordinations other than priesthood. However, these rules do not apply to temples built according to Agama rules. Regarding the appointment of priests in temples built according to Agama rules, the order passed by the Supreme Court in Adi Saiva Sivachariyar Nala Sangam and Seshammal cases should be implemented. Therefore, for temples built according to Agama rules, priests can be appointed only according to Agama. Only the trustees or dhakar can appoint a priest; Not the charity sector. If the priest is not appointed as per Agama, the individual can file a case against it. Temples built as per Agama rules need to be identified. It should also be seen in what manner it is built.
order
Therefore, the government is directed to appoint a five-member committee headed by retired High Court judge M. Sokkalingam. N. Gopalaswamy, chairman of the management committee of Chennai Sanskrit College, should be included in the committee. With the advice of the Chairman, within one month, the Government shall appoint two members. The Commissioner of Charity Department shall be a non-ex-officio member.The order passed in this case applies only to temples constructed in accordance with Agama rules; Not for other temples. Is it built according to the rules of Agama; A committee of five will identify which agam is built. According to that Agama, there should be priestly ordination; 7 and 9 not otherwise. Thus the first bench has ordered.
Subscribe Dinamalar channel for new news