- (1.) The petitioner has filed this writ petition questioning his removal from the temple as main pujari illegally and unauthorizedly with the help of Police and with a consequential direction upon respondent authorities not to create any obstruction to him to enter into the temple and from discharging his duties and functions as main pujari of the temple etc.
(2.) In the affidavit filed in support of the writ petition, it is stated that the petitioner is the main pujari of Sri Veer Hanuman Temple which was established in the year 1978 in Aberdeen Bazaar at Port Blair and from the very day of establishment of the temple his father M.S Ramanathan (since deceased) was the main pujari of the temple. A deed of trust was executed by the five members committee on 14.10.1996 for smooth functioning of the temple. Out of those five members only one member is alive namely V. Arumugam (respondent No.8 herein). He is dealing with the cash and fund of the temple, but he has not deposited a single farthing to the bank and misappropriated the entire money. The petitioner began to assist his father as assistant pujari from the year 1997 and after his father's death in the year 2000 he had been discharging the duties and functions as main pujari of the temple for a small remuneration paid through Debit Voucher (vide annexure P1 collectively). All on a sudden on 10th April, 2015 the respondent No.8 has formed a new committee with nine members claming himself as President and respondent No.7 as Secretary of the temple trust which is unauthorised and is under challenge before the Civil Court in Title Suit No. 16/2015 filed by Jogeshwar Singh S/o of Late Angad Singh, founder member of the temple. On 3rd May 2015 at about 11 am the respondent No.7 with the help of Police removed the petitioner from the temple and thereafter published the notice in newspaper namely 'The Daily Telegram' on its 15th May, 2015 issue (vide annexure P3). Since then the puja, archana in the temple has been stopped. On 4th May, 2015 the petitioner made complaint to the Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He also lodged complaint at the Police Station on 3rd May, 7th May and 9th May, 2015 for taking immediate action to allow him to enter into the temple, but the Administration and Police authority did not take any action (vide annexure P4 and P5 respectively). On 6th May, 2015 the respondent No. 7 lodged a complaint before the Police authority levelling bad allegation against the petitioner (vide annexure P6). The Sub Divisional Magistrate-cum- Assistant Commissioner by issuing notice dated 11th May, 2015 called the petitioner and private respondent No. 7 asking them to appear on 12th May, 2015. The petitioner accordingly appeared before the Sub Divisional Magistrate on 12th May, 2015 with all relevant papers, but he did not pass any order till date ( vide annexure P7). During pendency of the civil suit being Title Suit No. 16 of 2015, the respondent No.8 has no authority to act as President of the trust and to remove the petitioner from the temple. Thus being aggrieved and dissatisfied with the illegal removal by the private respondents with the help of the Police by not allowing him to act as main pujari of the temple with effect from 3rd May, 2015 the petitioner filed the present writ petition.
(3.) By filing counters, the allegations made in the writ petition are denied by the respondent Nos. 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8. In substance, they stated that on 14/12/1996 the trust was formed consisting of five trustees and the trust deed was registered. The respondent No. 8 is one of the founder trustee of the said trust (vide annexure A-1). For the death of two founder trustee and on account of two more trustees leaving the islands the respondent No. 7 and Shri R Annamalai were inducted as trustees in the meeting held on 16th April 2015. The respondent No. 8 was elected as President of the Managing Committee of the trust by the newly constituted committee. On a land bearing survey No. 2303/1 measuring 75 Sq.mtrs situated at Aberdeen Bazaar village at Port Blair allotted by the Lieutenant Governor by order dated 07.12.1998 in favour of the trust the temple namely 'Sri Veer Hanuman Temple' was constructed. Three pandits including the writ petitioner were appointed for managing the affairs of the temple but several complaints were received by the Managing Committee against the writ petitioner. The other two pandits had submitted complaints to the Managing Committee wherein series of allegations were made against the writ petitioner and on enquiry those were found true. A meeting of the Managing Committee of the trust was held on 25th April, 2015 to discuss the said complaints. Another meeting was held on 3rd May, 2015 wherein it was decided to terminate the service of the writ petitioner (vide annexure A-5). The writ petitioner was allowed to perform the puja in his father's absence. His father died on 08.11.2013. The Debit Vouchers (Annexure P1 collectively) are not remuneration receipt but are the amount which were paid from the trust for performing puja. The service of the petitioner as pujari was terminated following due process of law and it was informed to the general public by means of publication in the news paper. He was removed for his illegal activities. He forcefully took money offered by devotees from another pujari in the temple premises and also took away the temple keys for which the respondent No.7 lodged complaint to the police authority on 06.05.2015. Police authority called both the writ petitioner and the trustees and on enquiry it was found that the writ petitioner made false complaints and he was warned by Police not to create any nuisance in and around the temple premises. The dispute is civil in nature. Still considering sensitivity of the issue the three priests were called to the Police Station, Aberdeen by SHO on 08.05.2015 and advised them to resolve their issue with the trust and asked them to maintain peace and harmony in the temple, but in vain. Therefore apprehending breach of peace and harmony at the temple premises all the three priests have been proceeded against under sections 107/160(3)/145/150 CrPC to prevent them from committing any unlawful act vide challan No. 109 dated 09.05.2015. Therefore according to the respondents the writ petition is misconceived and not maintainable and accordingly they prayed for dismissal of the writ petition.;