BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT Date : 02/02/2026 CORAM The Hon`ble Mr.Justice KRISHNAN RAMASAMY Rajkumar ... Petitioner Vs

1. The District Collector,, Tirunelveli District, Tirunelveli..

2. The Tahsildar,, Tirunelveli Taluk, Tirunelveli..

3. Mariappan,, S/o Pandaram, 117, Kutralam Road, Tirunelveli Town, Tirunelveli..

4. Subramani,, S/o Esakki, No.30, Periyasami Temple Street, Tirunelveli Town, Tirunelveli..

5. Muthukrishnan,, S/o Pichumani, No.18, Samukaranga Kattalai Street,Sartharpuram, Palayapettai, Tirunelveli District.. ... Respondents PRAYER :- Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying this Court to issue a Writ of Mandamus directing the 1^st and 2^nd respondents to hold a peace committee meeting to open the lock and key put up by the Respondents no. 3 to 5 individually against the devotee rights in the Arulmigu Periyasami Temple, Tirunelveli Town and to consider the representation of the petitioner submitted to the respondents on 15.12.2025, through Registered post with Acknowledgement card for taking action within the stipulated time that may be fixed by this Court For Petitioner : M/s.K.Abiya For Respondents : Mrs.S.Malathi for R1 and R2 Additional Government Pleader

ORDER

The writ petition is filed for a mandamus to direct the 1^st and 2^nd respondents to hold a peace committee meeting to open the lock and key put up by the respondent Nos.3 to 5 individually against the devotee rights in the Arulmigu Periyasami Temple, Tirunelveli Town and to consider the representation of the petitioner submitted to the respondents on 15.12.2025, through RPAD for taking action within the stipulated time that may be fixed by this Court.

2. By consent of both sides, the writ petition is taken up for final disposal at the stage of admission itself. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Additional Government Pleader for the official respondents. Since no adverse orders are going to be passed against the respondents 3 to 5, notice is dispensed with.

3. The learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that against the respondents 3 to 5, the petitioner preferred a representation to the respondents 1 and 2 to conduct peace committee meeting with regard to allowing of all group of people to worship in the Periyasami Temple, which belong to one set of people. However, the respondents 3 to 5 have locked the temple thereby denied the right to worship. Hence, prays for appropriate direction.

4. The learned Additional Government Pleader would submit that since there was clash between two groups of people, the temple is closed.

5. I have considered the submissions on either side and perused the materials available on record.

6. When two or more groups are fighting among themselves and when the right to worship is prevented, one cannot resort to close the temple thereby preventing the people from all quarters from worshipping. Therefore, the 2^nd respondent is directed to open the temple and permit the public for worshipping. It is open to the 2^nd respondent to conduct a peace committee meeting separately to resolve the dispute among the two groups. If two groups intend to prevent the opening of the temple, the 2^nd respondent is at liberty to prefer a complaint and upon such complaint, the jurisdictional police is directed to arrest them and take action in accordance with law.

7. With the above direction, the writ petition is disposed of. No costs.

02.02.2026 NCC : Yes/No Index : Yes/No RR To

1. The District Collector,, Tirunelveli District, Tirunelveli..

2. The Tahsildar,, Tirunelveli Taluk, Tirunelveli..

KRISHNAN RAMASAMY, J RR

ORDER

IN WP(MD) No.2566 of 2026 Date : 02.02.2026