News Headlines
'Active Politicians Cannot Be Appointed As Non-Hereditary Temple Trustees' Says Kerala High Court To Malabar Dewaswom Board
S Rajesh
Feb 22, 2023, 03:22 PM | Updated 03:42 PM IST
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
The Kerala High Court has said that active politicians cannot be appointed as non-hereditary temple trustees.
It was hearing a case filed against the Malabar Dewaswom Board regarding the appointment of two members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-CPI(M) and one member of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), as non-hereditary trustees of the Sree Pookkottu Kalikavu Temple in Palakkad district.
While one of the CPI(M) members, Ashok Kumar is a local committee secretary of the Pookkottukavu unit, the other, i.e., Ratheesh is a branch secretary. The DYFI member, Panjakshan is an area secretary.
In response to the case, Kumar and Ratheesh said that they were not office-bearers of a political party and thus they were not active politicians when they were appointed. Panjakshan contended that the DYFI is not a political party.
To this, the Division Bench of the Kerala High Court said that only active politicians eventually become office-bearers. Regarding the DYFI, it said that as its main area of work was politics, the contention that it is not a political party is not valid.
It then passed an order saying that office-bearers of political parties, politicians, or those participating in the activities of a political party cannot be appointed as non-hereditary trustees.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president, K Surendran, in a tweet said that he welcomed the judgement.
We @BJP4Keralam welcomes the Kerala High Court's verdict that politicians and criminals cannot be appointed as non-hereditary trustees of the temples under the Malabar Dewaswom Board. Temples should be managed by devotees and not by @CPIMKerala local secretaries.
— K Surendran (@surendranbjp) February 22, 2023
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
S Rajesh is Staff Writer at Swarajya.
Support Swarajya's 50 Ground Reports Project & Sponsor A Story
Every general election Swarajya does a 50 ground reports project.
Aimed only at serious readers and those who appreciate the nuances of political undercurrents, the project provides a sense of India's electoral landscape. As you know, these reports are produced after considerable investment of travel, time and effort on the ground.
This time too we've kicked off the project in style and have covered over 30 constituencies already. If you're someone who appreciates such work and have enjoyed our coverage please consider sponsoring a ground report for just Rs 2999 to Rs 19,999 - it goes a long way in helping us produce more quality reportage.
You can also back this project by becoming a subscriber for as little as Rs 999 - so do click on this links and choose a plan that suits you and back us.
Click below to contribute.