The Madras High Court while hearing a petition on Monday (17 March) directed the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department to appoint enough jewel appraisers to ensure their annual visit in all major temples of Tamil Nadu to take stock of jewels and other valuables there, reports The Hindu.

The direction was issued by a bench of Justices KK Sasidharan and PD Audikesavalu on a public interest litigation filed by S Pakshi Sivarajan, a resident of Rameswaram. In his petition, Sivarajan had sought a probe into the alleged theft of a diamond Thali, nosepin, necklace, head drop and other jewels from the Ramanathaswamy Temple.

However, the temple management denied the allegation and told the court that the jewels were appraised in 1950 and once again in 1978 and that no jewel had been stolen or missing.

According to the report, on the question of why no appraisal has been carried out since 1978, the court was told that it was because the post of appraiser was lying vacant.

The court took serious note of the submission and ordered annual inspection of the jewels of major temples in the state and maintenance of jewellery registers.

“The jewellery register should be verified by the appraiser every year. The register must contain the signature of the appraiser and the Joint Commissioner/Executive Officer of the concerned temple,” the bench said.