HC directs authorities to include names of members of Board of Trustees in inscription

The court was hearing a petition filed by D. Subbulakshmi, a member of the Board of Trustees of the temple. She sought a direction to permit the members of the Board of Trustees to participate and discharge their statutory duties in the upcoming consecration ceremony. | Photo Credit: File photo Criticising the Joint Commissioner/Executive Officer of Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple for not including the names of the members of the Board of Trustees in the invitation for the consecration ceremony, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the authorities to ensure that their names were included in the inscription.Justice C. Saravanan issued the direction after taking into account the fact that the invitation for the consecration ceremony had already been printed and the rituals were scheduled to begin on September 6.The court was hearing a petition filed by D. Subbulakshmi, a member of the Board of Trustees of the temple. She sought a direction to permit the members of the Board of Trustees to participate and discharge their statutory duties in the upcoming consecration ceremony.The petitioner said she was functioning as a duly appointed Non-Hereditary Trustee of the temple pursuant to a G.O. issued in 2023, which was renewed as per a G.O. issued in 2025. Her tenure would continue till January 2028. The Chairperson is Rukmini Palanivel Rajan.The consecration was being conducted after a considerable interval of 17 years and was of immense religious, historical and cultural significance. The preparations involved various administrative activities, while renovation and restoration works were undertaken for the event, she said.However, in several instances, matters appeared to have been dealt with without obtaining the views of the serving trustees and without placing them before the Board of Trustees for consideration, wherever such consideration was required under the relevant Act, Rules, applicable scheme or lawful administrative procedure, she said.The Board had considered the format and contents of the invitation for the ceremony. However, the invitation subsequently circulated had omitted the names of the serving trustees and substituted the relevant portion with the expression ‘Temple Administration’, she said.In official invitations issued on behalf of the temple, the names of trustees holding office at the relevant time had consistently been included as part of the official representation of the Temple Administration. The inclusion of the names of serving trustees was therefore neither a new practice nor a personal claim, she said.The authorities submitted that the decisions taken by the Board of Trustees were implemented and there was no rule that their names had to be printed.The court suo motu impleaded the other four trustees — Chairperson Rukmini Palanivel Rajan, P.K.M. Chelliah, M. Srinivasan and S. Meena — and disposed of the petition. Published - September 02, 2026 11:29 pm IST