The Hindu : Kerala News : Devaswom likely to review its decision

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 07, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Devaswom likely to review its decision

By T. Ramavarman

THRISSUR, JAN. 6. The Guruvayur Devaswom is likely to reconsider its decision to allow Income Tax (IT) authorities to inspect the gold crown offered to the Guruvayur Sree Krishna Temple by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, on July 2, 2001, in view of the resentment from some quarters.

The devaswom had given permission to the IT authorities to inspect the gold crown on January 8. But the devaswom today requested the IT authorities to defer the inspection to a mutually agreeable date after January 16, the commissioner, K. Mohandas, told The Hindu here today.

The crown and her other offerings are kept in a safe locker in the temple. The devaswom administrator, K. Anilkumar, and `Ooralan' Mallissery Parameswaran Namboodiripad are the joint custodians of the locker. The locker can be opened only when the two are present. The administrator cannot enter the temple premises till January 15 since he is on mourning following the death of a close relation. It is in this context that the commissioner has asked the IT authorities to postpone the inspection.

Answering a question, Mr. Mohandas said it was not a `healthy practice' for the IT Department to insist on the physical verification of an article made as an offering to the temple. ``But I don't want to get into any controversies on the issue. We have given the details of the gold crown, including its weight, to the IT Department when it asked for it. The crown weighs 349 gm, including the diamonds fixed to it.''

Meeting on January 21

The commissioner said the devaswom managing committee had taken a decision to allow the IT authorities to inspect the crown at a meeting in Guruvayur on January 3. The committee is meeting again on January 21 and it may reconsider its decision after taking into account the resent among a section of the devotees after studying the legal obligations.

Asked whether the devaswom was planning to move court against the IT Department's directive, Mr. Mohandas said: ``No, we have not taken any such decision so far.''

Meanwhile, several religious organisations and three associations of the devaswom staff have come out against the decision of the devaswom to allow the inspection of the articles.

In separate statements here today, they said there was no full-fledged managing committee for the Guruvayur Devaswom now and the present one comprising three permanent members and the commissioner was only a temporary arrangement. The Kerala High Court had restrained this committee from taking any policy decision. They appealed to the Government to restrain the committee from giving permission to the IT authorities for the inspection.

Minister's stance

In another development, the Devaswom Minister, K.C. Venugopal, has asked the devaswom commissioner to give a detailed report on the issues involved. ``It is a decision taken at the managing committee level and the Government has no role in it. But the Government has directed the commissioner to take into account the religious sentiments involved in the issue before taking a final decision and not to go by lego-technical points alone,'' Mr. Venugopal told The Hindu .

The IT authorities had demanded the details of the elephant offered to the temple by Ms. Jayalalithaa in 2001 itself. The then administrator had provided those details then itself. The present letter sent by the IT authorities on November 21, 2004 is the continuation of the earlier enquiry. This letter has sought the permission of the devaswom for inspecting the golden crown.

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