Anil K. Narendran, J.

1. The petitioner in W.P.(C)No.3206 of 2014 is a devotee of 'Sree Vallabha', the chief deity of Sree Vallabha Maha Temple, Thiruvalla, under the Travancore Devaswom Board. The Writ Petition has been filed seeking a writ of mandamus commanding respondents 1 to 4 to conduct public auction of the right to open/operate temporary stalls/shops in the property belonging to Sree Vallabha Maha Temple, Thiruvalla, on individual basis to the prospective stall/shop operators, with adequate publicity in vernacular dailies, after sketching, identifying and estimating the available property, within such time as this Court may deem fit and proper in the interests of justice and for other consequential reliefs.

2. By order dated 26.11.2014, this Court referred the above Writ Petition to the Honourable Ombudsman for his report. After conducting a detailed enquiry, the Honourable Ombudsman has filed TDB Report No.13 of 2015.

3. In the Writ Petition the petitioner has made serious allegations in the conduct of the public auction to sell the right to run temporary stalls/shops on the Devaswom property of Sree Vallabha Maha Temple, Thiruvalla, during the annual festival season. The learned Standing Counsel for the Travancore Devaswom Board and also the learned counsel for the Temple Advisory Committee have raised serious objections about the bonafides of the petitioner in approaching this Court seeking such a relief. The learned counsel for the Temple Advisory Committee would contend that, it was the petitioner who started the practice of taking in auction the temple premises through his nominee, who used to let out portions of such premises to various intending stall/shop operators after collecting huge amounts. At the same time, the report dated 5.3.2014 filed by the Commissioner of the Travancore Devaswom Board, pursuant to the order passed by this Court dated 28.2.2014, prima facie discloses irregularities in the sale by public auction of the right to run temporary stalls/shops on the Devaswom property of Sree Vallabha Maha Temple, Thiruvalla, conducted during the previous festival season.

4. The report filed by the Honourable Ombudsman also discloses various irregularities in the public auction conducted during the previous festival season. The Honourable Ombudsman has found that the practice followed in the temple for a long time was that the auction will be settled in favour of one person for and on behalf of the Temple Advisory Committee for a total amount ranging between Rs. 70,000/- to Rs. 80,000/- and such person or committee used to let out portions of such premises to various intending stall/shop operators after collecting huge amounts. The Devaswom Commissioner has in his report dated 5.3.2014 stated that, during the previous festival season the tender notice was published after dividing the land put up for auction into 30 plots, in order to prevent revenue loss by awarding the licence to a single person. In the auction conducted on 25.2.2014 nine persons participated and the revenue has increased to Rs. 1,03,675/-. It is stated that though more people had assembled near the auction hall only nine persons participated in the auction and that most of the plots were re-auctioned by the actual licensees to third parties after receiving substantially high amounts. Further, it is stated that as against 30 plots auctioned by the Board, 36 shops were found on the Devaswom property and the Commissioner had directed the Devaswom officers to remove the unauthorised shops or to negotiate with the unauthorised vendors and regularise their occupation, without causing any loss to the Devaswom. The Honourable Ombudsman has in his report suggested, among other things, that the practice of preventing the intending bidders by certain persons with vested interests should be prevented with the help of the Police and the Chief Vigilance Officer of the Devaswom may be directed to be present at the time of auction.

5. By order dated