Constitute board of trustees for Tiruchendur temple in 4 months: HC

Madurai: Madras high court on Tuesday directed the state to constitute the board of trustees for the Subramaniya Swamy Temple in Tiruchendur in Tuticorin district within four months.A division bench of Justice N Sathish Kumar and Justice M Jothiraman passed the order while disposing of a public interest litigation filed by advocate B Ramkumar Adityan of Tuticorin district.The petitioner said following the end of the tenure of the board of trustees in Aug 2024, a fit person was appointed to discharge the duties of the board. Thereafter, the authorities did not take any steps to appoint other trustees. In 2025, another petitioner filed a public interest litigation over the issue. In Oct, the court directed the state govt to expedite the process of constituting the board and complete the exercise within an outer time limit of four months. Despite the earlier direction, no steps were taken to constitute the board of trustees, the petitioner said.In the absence of a board, the temple administration has been solely under the control of one individual. This led to decisions being made unilaterally without proper consultation, deliberation, or collective recommendations, resulting in a lack of transparency and administrative accountability, the petitioner said. He stated that the mandate that the board of trustees must include one woman and one representative from a Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe community was blatantly ignored. This resulted in the denial of rightful representation for marginalised communities. Due to the absence of the board of trustees, there has been suspicion on handling of the temple's income, donations, and other financial matters, he said. Hence, the petitioner moved the court seeking a direction to the authorities to constitute a board of trustees for the temple.