Administrative decisions regarding elections and member inclusion in statutory bodies are guided by procedural fairness, allowing discretion in evaluating recommendations from vigilance inquiries.

JUDGMENT :

K.V. JAYAKUMAR, J.

1. This Writ Petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

2. The petitioner states that he is an ardent devotee of Sree Krishna Swami Temple, Neyyattinkara (for the sake of brevity ‘the temple’). The petitioner seeks to quash Exts. P23, P24 and P25, whereby respondents 6 to 12 have been re-inducted into the voters’ list of the Temple Advisory Committee.

3. According to the petitioner, the respondents 6 to 12 are the members of the former Temple Advisory Committee, for the period 2016–2018. They were removed from the registered voter mandalam in 2022 on the ground that they had filed litigations against the Travancore Devaswom Board. Subsequently, respondents 6 and 7 were illegally inducted into the registered voter mandalam and elected as the President and Vice-President of the Temple Advisory Committee.

4. The petitioner states that he has attempted to ensure that the affairs of the temple are not detrimentally affected by the arbitrary, unreasonable, and illegal decisions taken by the erstwhile Temple Advisory Committee. In the course of such attempts, the petitioner was constrained to submit various complaints before the concerned authorities, highlighting the corruption and illegal activities committed by the former Temple Advisory Committee.

5. The Thantri of the Temple addressed a letter dated 21.09.2016 to the 4th respondent pointing out that the Namaskara Mandapam of the temple was in a dilapidated condition and requesting that it be renovated expeditiously in accordance with the glory and rituals of the temple. Ext. P1 is the letter issued by Thantri. It was decided in the meeting held on 14.06.2017 that teak wood, for renovating the Namaskara Mandapam of the temple, would be purchased from the Forest Department. Ext. P2 dated 14.06.2017 is the minutes of the meeting of the Temple Advisory Committee.

6. In the meantime, the 2nd respondent, the Commissioner, Travancore Devaswom Board, issued Ext. P3 order vide ROC No. 4240/17/NS-1 dated 25.09.2017, granting sanction to withdraw amounts from the joint account of the Committee for the completion of the temple works in a phased manner, after obtaining an estimate from the Assistant Engineer and final cheque shall be issued only after obtaining a completion certificate from the 4th respondent.

7. Subsequently, the Secretary, Travancore Devaswom Board issued Ext. P4 letter dated 23.12.2017 to the Devaswom Chief Engineer stating that the renovation of the Namaskara Mandapam could be carried out on the condition that the entire expenses would be borne by the Temple Advisory Committee, under the supervision of the officials of the Board and in accordance with the rituals of the temple.

8. It is further contended that as the tenure of the Temple Advisory Committee was to expire on 08.03.2018. The President and Secretary of the Temple Advisory Committee submitted a request before the Devaswom Commissioner to extend the tenure of the Committee for a period of one year, under the pretext of completing certain construction works. However, the Devaswom Commissioner rejected the request, and the tenure was extended only until the completion of the annual festival on 23.03.2018.

9. The Assistant Engineer, Neyyattinkara issued Ext. P5 letter dated 22.02.2018 to the 4th respondent, the Assistant Devaswom Commissioner, Neyyattinkara, informing that the work would commence on 27.02.2018 and that, for carrying out the renovation, 130 cubic f