The Madras High Court on Thursday directed the Tamil Nadu government to refrain from taking any decision on melting temple jewellery into gold bars, as part of the recently announced Gold Monetisation Scheme, until Trustees are appointed to Hindu temples in the State. (Indic Collective Trust and anr v. State of Tamil Nadu and anr)

A Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice PD Audikesavalu clarified that the task of completing the inventory of temple offerings can continue under the aegis of the Committee constituted by the State government which comprises of retired Judges.

"But no decision to melt the jewellery or dispose of any valuable which forms part of offerings at relevant temples should be taken without the trustees thereat being installed pursuant to advertisements issued," the Court ordered.

The interim order was passed in public interest litigation (PIL) petitions filed by the Indic Collective Trust through its President, TR Ramesh. Advocates Niranjan Rajagopalan and J Sai Deepak appeared for the Trust. A related petition by one, AV Gopala Krishnan was also heard along with this matter, with Senior Advocate Pradeep Sancheti making arguments for the petitioner.

The petitioners contended that the administration of temples is entrusted to its trustees and that the State government cannot take a decision to melt temple jewellery in the absence of trustees.

Reliance was placed on Rule 13 of the Religious Institutions Custody of Jewels, Valuables and Documents and Disposal Rules, 1961, which was framed under the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959.

Rule 13 states that the temple trustee shall not melt any jewel or valuable without previous sanction from the competent authority. Advocate Deepak asserted that the process can only be initiated by the trustee and that the HR&CE Commissioner cannot take a decision on his own to melt temple jewellery or valuables.

Chief Justice Banerjee orally observed that Rule 12 indicated that the HR&CE Commissioner can act on his own as well. He added that these Rules have remained unchallenged for a long time.

"It is my case that I don't need to challenge these rules. Rule 13 has to be given its due where the trustee can set the ball rolling. The interpretation being set forth by your Lordship may not agree well with the structure of the rest of the legislation," Advocate Deepak submitted, in response.

The Chief Justice, in turn, observed,

"We prima facie don't find any need to interdict at the moment. But naturally, we have to consider. We are not throwing you out altogether. Tell us something, what is the immediate urgency for any interim order? What is the prejudice that would be caused? That is a different kettle of fish."

In response, Deepak submitted that the speed at which the Tamil Nadu government has been moving on the issue may render the writ petition infructuous if no interim relief is granted. A note has already been circulated to implement the announcement made in the Legislative Assembly on the gold monetisation scheme and four colleges have already been announced to be set up using surplus funds, he informed.

"The speed with which the government seems to be moving appears to be moving towards rendering the writ petition infructuous before the next date of hearing," Deepak argued.

The Chief Justice went on to acknowledge that the trustees of the temples should be appointed before any decision is taken to melt the temple gold. Addressing Advocate General R Shunmugasundaram, the Chief Justice remarked:

"First put the trustees in place. Without Trustees in place, there is no check or balance to the HR&CE Act. You make a statement that we will record that the melting of gold will not be carried out till such time that trustees are put in place ... You may be doing things fairly. But all of this is happening unilaterally. The commissioner is part of the Executive. The fit person is the nominee of the Executive. The commission has been constituted by the Executive."

In the course of his response, the Advocate General informed that the practice of melting temple gold is not new and that ₹11.5 crores has been earned as interest, which was used for the benefit of temples.

He added that no inventory has been taken so far of the temple offerings. In this backdrop, he suggested that the inventory process continue, while the melting may take place after the appointment of Trustees to temples.

"May I say this, the inventory will be taken now and the melting will be taken up after the appointment of trustees. Let it be like that. Let the inventory process go on," the Advocate General urged before the High Court.

Expressing agreement, the Chief Justice said,

"We are not stopping you from carrying the inventory. All that we are saying is that this decision (to melt gold) - every individual temple has to take a decision as to how much to melt, or monetize. That decision should not take place in the absence of trustees ... Let inventory go on. We are happy that you have members from judicial fraternity, people with impeccable records. But decisions on melting will be taken after the trustees are appointed."

The matter was listed next on December 15, when related petitions concerning the appointment of trustees to temples in Tamil Nadu will be taken up. The Court has also granted the petitioners liberty to move the High Court before this date, if there is any exigency. The State has been permitted to file a common counter to all the petitions.

References:

lonelyplanet.com
barandbench.com - By Bar & Bench
indiadivine.org