Civil Miscellaneous Petition No. 2591 of 1951*-This and the other connected petitions relating to the Guruvayur temple and the Chidambaram temple were heard together as they all raised the question of the validity of the Madras Hindu Religious Endowments Act, 1926, Act II of 1927 (hereinafter called the “earlier Act”). While these petitions were pending, the Madras Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1951 (Act XIX of 1951) (hereinafter called the “new Act”) which repealed the earlier Act was brought into force by the Madras Government on 30th September, 1951, by a notification in the Fort St. George Gazette. Leave to amend the petitions was granted to the petitioners and they have been permitted to canvass the validity of the new Act as well. Mr. M.K. Nambiyar who appeared for the trustee of the Guruvayur temple argued his petition first and Mr. Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar and the learned Advocate-General replied to that petition after which the petition relating to Guruvayur temple was allowed to be withdrawn as the Government agreed to cancel the decision to notify the temple and to permit the trustee to function. The arguments addressed by Mr. Nambiyar were ado