IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P.R.RAMAN & THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE V.K.MOHANAN TUESDAY, THE 1ST APRIL, 2008 / 12TH CHAITHRA, 1930 WP(C).No. 34700 of 2007(E) -------------------------------- PETITIONERS: ------------------ 1. M.K. BALAKRISHNAN NAIR, PRESIDENT, SREEDHARMASASTHA KSHETHROPADESAKA SAMITHI, PAYAPPAR, PALA, KOTTAYAM DISTRICT. 2. O.K. NANDAKUMAR, SUDARSANA VEEDU, PAYAPPAR, PALA, KOTTAYAM DIST. BY ADV. SRI. RAMAKUMAR (SR.) SRI.T.RAMPRASAD UNNI SRI.R.JAYACHANDRAN RESPONDENTS: ------------------ 1. THE TRAVANCORE DEVASWOM BOARD, REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY,THIRUVANANTHAPURAM. 2. THE DEVASWOM COMMISSIONER, TRAVANCORE DEVASWOM BOARD, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM. ADDL.R-3. EXECUTIVE ENGINEER, TRAVANCORE DEVASWOM BOARD, KOTTAYAM. ADDL.R3 IS IMPLEADED AS PER ORDER ON I.A.NO.498/2007 DATED 1.4.2008. BY ADV. SRI.K.N.VENUGOPALA PANICKER, SC FOR TDB THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 01/04/2008, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: P.R.RAMAN & V.K.MOHANAN, JJ. --------------------------------------------- W.P(C).No. 34700 of 2007 --------------------------------------------- Dated this the 1st day of April, 2008 J U D G M E N T Raman,J: First petitioner is the President of the Sreedharmasastha Kshethropadesaka Samithi, Payappar near Pala in Kottayam District and the second petitioner is stated to be the devotee of the aforesaid temple. It is averred that close to the temple, there is another temple, Kothakulangara Bhagavathy temple situated in 2½ acres which has now fallen into a state of neglect, though as per order of this Court in T.D.B.No.238 of 2006, it was ordered to propose the construction of Sreekovil in the aforesaid land. No steps were taken to implement that order. At the same time, the said 2½ acres of land is now attempted to be converted as a place for construction of a bull shed for protecting bulls offered as vazhipadu belonging to the temples under the Ettumanoor Group. 2. The prayer in this writ petition is that a direction may be issued to the first respondent to permit use of the 2½ acres of land belonging to the WP(C) NO. 34700 of 2007 :-2-: Sreedharmasastha temple, Payappar, near Pala in Kottayam District for any purpose other than the construction of a Sreekovil of the Devi temple. 3. The Travancore Devaswom Board has filed a detailed counter affidavit wherein they have stated that as per order in W.P.(C) No.37456 of 2004 of this Court, there was a direction to see that the oxen offered to the Ettumanoor Mahadeva Temple by the devotees were properly protected and were not allowed to be sold to butchers. Ext.R1(a) is the copy of the judgment in W.P(C) No.37456 of 2004. We find from Ext.R1(a) that the Division Bench had disposed of two writ petitions (W.P(C) Nos.37456 & 36285 of 2004) by a common judgment. The main grievance of the petitioners in the above two writ petitions seems to be that the oxen offered to the temples under the Ettumanoor Group are not properly protected by constructing a shed for them. This Court, in the circumstances by a considered judgment, directed the Travancore Devaswom Board to take steps for proper protection of the oxen offered to WP(C) NO. 34700 of 2007 :-3-: the Ettumanoor Mahadeva Temple. However, since that direction was not complied with, a Contempt application (Cont.Case(C).No.1211 of 2007) was moved before this Court. It was thereupon that the Board found out a proper place for construction of a shed for the protection of the oxen offered by the devotees to the Ettumanoor Mahadeva Temple. The Devaswom property of Kothakulangara was found vacant which is considered to be fit for construction of two semi permanent sheds and they have already started construction after inviting tenders for the same vide Ext.P2. Therefore, in implementation of the direction issued by this Court, they have started construction of the shed. Since the space for construction of a shed is confined to a limited space and a larger extent of 2½ acres property is there as devaswom property, the Board can also implement the earlier direction of constructing a Sreekovil in the Devi Temple. Therefore, the Board shall ensure that the construction of the bull shed will not affect the construction of temple in the future, and WP(C) NO. 34700 of 2007 :-4-: sufficient space shall be kept vacant for such future construction of the temple. The writ petition is accordingly closed with the above observation. P.R.RAMAN, Judge V.K.MOHANAN, Judge MBS/ WP(C) NO. 34700 of 2007 :-5-: P.R.RAMAN & V.K.MOHANAN, JJ. -------------------------------------------- O.P.NO. OF 2001 ------------------------------------ J U D G M E N T DATED: -2007 WP(C) NO. 34700 of 2007 :-6-: