Chennai, August 6, 2013: The Madras High Court bench here on Monday directed a litigant to implead the administrators of 199 temples in Tamil Nadu as respondents in a public interest litigation petition seeking the abolition of paid darshans.

The petitioner, C. Arun, an advocate, claimed that the temples collected fees ranging from Rs. 10 to Rs. 1000 from the devotees for special darshans. The fees were increased during festivals, he alleged. He sought a direction to the Commissioner of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department to abolish paid darshans in all temples.

The government allocated sufficient funds for renovation of the temples, but the temples collected fees from devotees violating Articles 14, 15 and 26 of the Constitution, the petitioner contended.

Mr. Arun also claimed that the distance from where the devotees could see the deities were fixed based on the amount they paid. He further alleged that the temple priests did not give respect to the devotees in the free darshan category.

Additional advocate general K. Chellapandian submitted that there were 36,545 temples in the State. “As many as 235 temples in Tamil Nadu are financially affluent. Entry fees and fees for darshan are being collected in only 199 temples across the State. The decision to collect fees for darshan was taken by the board of trustees of the respective temples,” he submitted.

According to Mr. Chellapandian, darshan fees were collected only to facilitate devotees from other States and districts who visited the temples after preparing a schedule. “Besides paid darshans, free darshan is offered in every temple. No temple denies darshan for those who do not pay fees,” he contended. He also claimed that the queues of devotees who pay for darshan and those who do not merge in front of the sanctum. He denied that devotees were made to have darshans from different spots based on the fees they paid. A division bench comprising Justices N. Paul Vasanthakumar and P. Devadass observed that any decision taken on the case is likely to have an effect on the 199 temples in the State that collected fees.

The judges adjourned the case to August 13 with a direction to the petitioner to implead these199 temples as respondents.

Source: The Hindu, August 6, 2013