HC declines to stay temple land auction

Justice G.M. Mohiuddin of the High Court declined to stay the auction of lands of Raja Rajeshwara temple at Donabanda village of Hajipur mandal in Mancherial district for granting one year tenancy rights. 

The plea was filed by Polasa Srisailam claiming that the temple was built by his family nearly a century ago. He maintained that he inherited the trusteeship and archaka rights of the temple, adding the temple lands were under his absolute control. 

Stating that the proposed auction of temple lands was arbitrary and cannot be undertaken without keeping him in the loop, the petitioner sought a direction to stay the auction. The government pleader for Endowments submitted to the bench that Section 43 of the Andhra Pradesh Charitable Hindu Religious and Endowment Act did not prohibit the competent authority from leasing the temple land. 

Rights over all the properties of the temple are vested in the deity and the institution and the ‘archaic’ would be only a servant of the deity, the government counsel said. The judge said the petitioner can participate in the auction as a bidder if he wished to continue to cultivate the land, and declined to stay the auction.