INDIA, April 17, 2014 (The Hindu): Unless the rules under the HR and CE Act provision relating to appointment and duties of Executive Officers is issued, the Commissioner cannot appoint any Executive Officer, irrespective of the situation in the administration of a temple, the Madras High Court has ruled. The court judgment is likely to have an effect on EO appointments already made.
Justice S. Nagamuthu passed the order while allowing a writ petition by the Arulmigu Vaithianathaswamy Devasthanam, Vaitheeswaran Koil, Nagapattinam district. The devasthanam challenged a HR and CE Commissioner’s show cause notice of February 12 this year calling upon it to explain why an Executive Officer (EO) should not be appointed for the temple for one year and the consequential proceedings. In the notice, six alleged irregularities were noted.
The petitioner challenged the notice on the ground that the Commissioner had no jurisdiction to issue it and to appoint an EO for the temple. This was because under Section 45 (1) of the HR and CE Act (Appointment and duties of Executive Officers) the government had not issued any rule prescribing the conditions upon which the EO could be appointed.