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Court was dealing with a writ petition that was filed in 2015 alleging that the petitioner was being obstructed from worshiping and conducting Poojas at the temple of his family deity.
Expressing concern over the court being flooded with cases related to clashes between different groups over worshipping rights at temples which lead to law and order problems, the Madras High Court on Friday observed that temples are becoming a breeding ground for clash of ego between persons and God is pushed to the back seat.
The bench Justice N. Anand Venkatesh stated that a temple is a place that is reached out by God believers in search of peace and it must create an environment to subside the ego of a person, however, in many cases, the temple itself becomes a cause for disturbance and law and order problem and as a result, the whole purpose of a Temple is lost.
Court said that in such cases the Police and Revenue authorities are made to spend their time in resolving the dispute between the parties and therefore, it opined that in such cases, the best course of action will be to close down such Temples so that peace and normalcy is restored in the locality.
"It is a paradox that closure of a Temple actually leads to peace," the Court stated.
Court was dealing with a writ petition filed by one worshipper of Sri Madurai Veeran, Karupparayan and Kannimar seeking protection for offering worship and conducting poojas and festivals at the deity's temple situated at a village in State's Erode district.
The petitioner claimed that the deity was his family deity and alleged that he and other families who visit the temple to offer their worship were being obstructed.
The Court had directed the Additional Government Pleader to take instructions on the status of the atmosphere that was prevailing in the concerned village with respect to the subject temple.
In pursuance of that order, the Additional Government Pleader on Friday placed written instructions received from the Tahsildar of the concerned area which stated that despite several peace committee meetings, the rival parties could not reach an agreement and there had been repeated clashes whenever an attempt was made to conduct any function or festival in the temple.
Therefore, in view of the facts and circumstances of the case, Court opined that the Assistant Commissioner of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department of Tamil Nadu must immediately step in and appoint a fit person for the Temple.
Accordingly, Court ordered the Assistant Commissioner of the HR&CE Department to appoint a fit person and hand over the administration of the temple to him within 10 days from the date of receipt of a copy of the order.
Court further directed that the fit person will ensure that all are allowed inside the temple to make their prayers.
"This will sufficiently take care of the ego clash between the parties and no one will feel superior than the other when the Temple is under the control of the Executive Officer / Fit person", Court said.
Furthermore, Court ordered that the temple shall be reopened only after the appointment of a fit person by the HR&CE Department.
In addition to that, while disposing of the petition, Court added that "it shall be ensured that no one indulges in act of violence resulting in a law and order problem and if any such incidents take place, the Superintendent of Police shall immediately take charge and action shall be initiated against the concerned persons".
Case Title: M Sekar v. The District Collector and others
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