Many may be aware of the deplorable conditions of the temples in Kerala especially in the Malabar region. The situations are not different from the days in which Tipu Sultan raided destroyed and looted the temples of Malabar region. Even today the wealth of the temples is being siphoned off by Government. Worse still the land and properties belonging to Hindu temples in Malabar region is being encroached and alienated. The land which could have generated revenues for meeting temple expenses is now in the hands of the very people who are even opposed to idol worship.
As per the statement given by Devaswom Minister, 9877.2 Hectares of land belonging to temples in Malabar region of Kerala is encroached. The encroachment and illegal alienation of properties is being done with connivance of corrupt officials in Malabar Dewaswom Board and Revenue Department. Those ruling political parties ruling Kerala till date have never done anything to reclaim the lands belonging to Hindu temples in Kerala.
But Dewaswom Secretary Jyothilal on 12.9.2014 issued a Circular asking the District Collectors of all districts in Malabar region to recover encroached temple properties using the provisions of the Land Conservancy Act. Due to inaction of the District Collectors a further order was issued by Jyothilal IAS on 23.5.2015 highlighting the rampant encroachment of temple lands under Malabar Dewaswom Board and asking the Revenue Department for immediate action. No action was taken by the Revenue Department or District Collectors or Malabar Dewaswom to recover the encroached land.
To put an end to this situation Swamy Bharati Maharaj (Rajendran K) , Shri Suresh, Shri Biju and Shri Ramanadhan have approached the Kerala High Court via a writ petition filed through Advocate P. Sathisan.
The Dewaswom Bench of High Court of Kerala comprising of Honorable Justice Thottathil B Radhakrishnan and Honorable Justice Anu Sivaraman on 13.10.2015 passed interim orders staying all further alienation of properties and issuance of encumbrance on land belonging to temples under administration of Malabar Dewaswom Board until further orders from the Honorable court. The court has even barred the authorities from registering such land transactions.
The Honorable Court while considering the petition has also asked the Malabar Dewaswom Board to give a detailed report on the actions taken by the Board in evicting the encroachment. The Honorable Court has posted the matter for further hearing on 4 November 2015
The General Public may also inform the cases of illegal alienation or encroachment of properties under administration of Malabar Dewaswom Board to the Dewaswom Bench through the Registrar, High Court of Kerala via letter or otherways , so that the Honorable Court may be appraised of the situation on the ground during the course of the petition.
Kerala HC order – Devaswom Board related petition
