The Supreme Court on Wednesday, November 4, stayed the Madras High Court's order directing a five-member Board of Management to take over the administration of the Chidambaram Nataraja Temple from the Podhu Dikshitars, Bar and Bench reported. A Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul Pancholi issued notice on the appeal filed by the Dikshitars challenging the High Court's October 30 judgment.

Source: Bar and Bench

"Having heard the learned advocates appearing for the parties, we are of the considered view, the impugned judgment deserves to be stayed. Accordingly, it stands stayed," the Bench said, according to Bar and Bench. LiveLaw reported that the interim order was passed while hearing the challenge filed by the temple's Podhu Dikshitars against the High Court's direction.

Source: LiveLaw

The Madras High Court, in its October 30 judgment, had upheld Tamil Nadu government order G.O. (Ms.) No. 115 of May 17, 2022, which permitted devotees to have darshan from the Kanaka Sabha, a raised platform inside the temple where customary pujas are performed. Finding maladministration in the upkeep of the heritage structure and in the accounting of temple properties, the High Court directed the board to take over the administration "till the ill is cured", Verdictum reported.

Source: Verdictum

The five-member board was to comprise two retired High Court judges, a retired IAS officer, the secretary of the Podhu Dikshitars and the State's Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Secretary. The High Court had clarified that daily rituals and periodical festivals would remain the exclusive prerogative of the Podhu Dikshitars, subject to established customs and practices.

The Dikshitars, the hereditary priests who administer the temple, challenged the government order on the ground that it interfered with their right to manage its religious affairs under Article 26 of the Constitution. The temple relied on the Supreme Court's 2014 judgment in Subramanian Swamy v. State of Tamil Nadu, which set aside the appointment of a government executive officer to administer the temple. With the stay in place, the Dikshitars remain in charge of the temple's administration for now.