W.P. No. 8530 of 2017 and W.M.P. No. 9317 of 2017. Case: C. Vaidyanathan Achari Vs The Regional Divisional Officer and Ors.. High Court of Madras (India)

Case NumberW.P. No. 8530 of 2017 and W.M.P. No. 9317 of 2017
CounselFor Appellant: Chitra Sampath, Senior Counsel for T.S. Baskaran, Adv. and For Respondents: A.N. Thambidurai, Special Government Pleader
JudgesM. Duraiswamy, J.
IssueCivil Procedure Code
Judgement DateApril 07, 2017
CourtHigh Court of Madras (India)

Order:

M. Duraiswamy, J.

  1. The petitioner has filed the above Writ Petition to issue a writ of certiorarified mandamus to quash the order of the 1st respondent dated 05.04.2017 in so far as it restricts the right of the petitioner Temple to draw the temple car during night time and consequently, direct the respondents to permit the Panguni Utharam festival every year as per the custom followed by the petitioner Temple for the past 200 years and to provide necessary protection and co-operation for the conduct of the Panguni Uthiram festival as per the Sastras.

  2. According to the petitioner, the petitioner Temple is a denominational temple, belonging to old Vishwakarma Community residing at Old Town (O.T.), Cuddalore. The administration of the Temple is vested in the Board of Trustees elected by the members of the Community. The right of the above Community had been upheld in various proceedings before this Court and the petitioner Temple is a very old one and had been in existence for the last more than 200 years. According to the petitioner, the Temple had been constructed as per Agama Sastras and it has been meticulously adopting various religious rituals and festivals.

  3. The petitioner Temple has a Temple Car, which is taken out in the Tamil month of Panguni and as per the age old practice of the Temple, the Temple Car is taken out and pulled by the public on specific roads, intended for the said purpose, in the Tamil month of Panguni, on the day when the Star "Utharam" and Lagnam "Magharam" falls, which is invariably during midnight. The Temple Car is taken out and it runs through Shree Kamatchi Ammal Koil Street, Sanjeevarayan Koil Street, Irusappa Chettiar Street, Kasukudi Street and finally, just before the sunrise, the Temple Car reaches the Temple. Further, according to the petitioner, there are several rituals and festivals which precede and follow the say of Temple Car festival. The general practice is that the petitioner Temple celebrates 14 day Panguni Utharam festival, culminating in the Temple Car festival on the 9th day. The Temple Car festival will be held during the night hours (i.e.) during 1.00 a.m., and 02.30 a.m., and large number of general public will participate in the Temple Car procession. The Temple Car festival had been conducted for more than 200 years as per Agama Sastras.

  4. For the year 2015, the Panguni Utharam festival was scheduled on 25.03.2015 and ended on 08.04.2015. The Temple Car festival was...

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