The action of the respondents, in appointing the 2nd respondent as the Executive Officer of Sri Neela Kanteswara Swamy Temple, Yemmiganur village and Mandal, Kurnool District, vide proceedings dated 10.01.2014, is questioned in this Writ Petition as being arbitrary and illegal. The subject temple was registered under the provisions of the Madras Endowments Act 2 of 1927, and was declared thereunder as a “public religious endowment”. The petitioner was declared as the hereditary trustee of the subject temple, under Section 20(1) of the Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious and Endowments Act 1966 (hereinafter called the 1966 Act), by proceedings of the Assistant Commissioner of Endowments, Kurnool dated 25.09.1980; and was given the right to assume charge, as the hereditary trustee, in the line of succession of his late father.

2. It is the petitioner’s case that the subject temple was constructed around 200 years ago by the members of his family with their own personal funds; it was initially meant for the benefit of the family; it was later thrown open to the public; the original temple consisted of the principal deity i.e. Lord Shiva in the form of a sivalingam