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Constitution of ‘tiruppani’ committee not mandatory: HC

MADURAI: Constitution of ‘tiruppani’ committees for renovating temples is not mandatory if the expenditure involved is met directly by an individual or a handful of donors, the Madras High Court has ruled.

Justice M. Jeyapaul said the prime aim of the committees was to avoid mismanagement of public funds meant for carrying out repair works. Hence, they had to be constituted only when theofficials handled cash received through donations from a large number of devotees.

“In my considered opinion, the question of forming ‘tiruppani’ committee does not arise if any individual comes forward to spend a huge amount on his own without parting with the donation amount to the temple officials,” the Judge said. In such cases, the role of authorities was limited to the extent of coordinating with the donors.

He pointed out that the Management and Preservation of Properties of Religious Institutions Rules lay down only three pre-conditions for constituting ‘tiruppani’ committees. Firstly, there should be a necessity for renovating the temple, then a need to invite contributions from the public and lastly donations should have been solicited from the devotees at large.

The observations were made while dismissing a writ petition filed by one of the hereditary trustees of the Balasubramaniaswami Temple at Ettivayal in Pattukottai taluk of Thanjavur district. The petitioner had sought a direction to the Joint Commissioner of HR&CE to constitute a ‘tiruppani’ committee.

However, the Government advocate contended that there was no necessity for such a committee because the entire work would be carried out with contributions from just two philanthropists. The money shall not be paid in cash to the officials and the donors had also been instructed not to collect any money from the devotees, he added.

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