Source: www.expressbuzz.com
CHENNAI, INDIA, August 19, 2009: Dikshithars are also owners of the Nataraja temple in Chidambaram — and Lord Shiva is one of the Dikshithars, Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy stated in written arguments submitted before a division bench on Tuesday. “This is part of the religious beliefs protected under Article 25 of the Constitution and the same could not be taken away by legislation.”
Subramanian Swamy’s arguments challenge a single judge’s February 2 decision to confirm the appointment of an executive officer to take over the administration of the temple. He said the government’s appointment of the EO had been made on the basis of vague, stale and irrelevant facts, without a proper understanding of the law, wholly without jurisdiction, and in violation of the provisions of the constitution.
In the January 2 ruling, an alleged charge of mismanagement was said to have happened in 1987 — 23 years ago — and was never properly verified. In any case, he says, the Dikshithars could at most be prosecuted for offenses. The management of the temple could not be taken from them.
Swamy states that under the law, the temple and the Podhu Dikshithars, as a religious denomination, enjoy complete autonomy in the matter of deciding rites and ceremonies and administration of the property. He asks the bench to set aside the orders of the single judge appointing the EO.
[HPI note: You can read many more details about Chidambaram’s takeover in an 8-page article of our latest issue. Click to read it online on page 16 here or subscribe to the printed magazine here.