SC rejects Shree Padmanabha Swamy Temple Trust plea seeking exemption from audit of 25 years

By Legal Wires 4 Minutes Read

The Supreme Court rejected an application filed by Shree Padmanabha Swamy Temple Trust seeking exemption from the audit of 25 years that was ordered by the court in July 2020.

Sri Marthanda Varma v. State Of Kerala

The Bench of Justice UU Lalit, Justice Ravindra Bhat and Justice Bela Trivedi rejected the first prayer and decided that it was clear that the special audit was not intended to be confined to the Temple only, but also the Trust.

“We have rejected the first prayer. It is clear that the audit was not intended to be confined to the temple only but also to the trust.” The judge said that the audit was ordered in the light of the report submitted by the Amicus Curiae.

As regards the second prayer made by the Trust to exempt it from the administrative supervision of the Administrative Committee constituted for the Temple. The court refrained from expressing anything on the second prayer and left the matter to be decided by a competent court.

The administrative committee of the Temple submitted that the Temple is facing an unprecedented financial crisis and is unable to meet the monthly expenses due to the pandemic crisis. As per the report, the monthly income of the temple is reduced to Rupees Fifty – Sixty lakhs as the Temple has remained closed for over one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it requires at least Rs.1.25 crores for paying salaries of the temple staff and to meet other expenditures for performing rituals and poojas etc. The Administrative Committee has said that it is necessary to transfer the income of the Trust to the Temple.

The judgment of the Supreme Court passed last year held that the death of the King of Travancore, who signed the covenant, does not affect Shebaitship (management and maintenance of the idol) of the Travancore royal family.

The court had specifically directed the Administrative Committee and the Advisory Committee of the Temple to undertake an audit for the last 25 years, as suggested by the Amicus Curiae and Senior Advocate Gopal Subramanium.