The Ruling
The Madras High Court has held that executive officers appointed under the HR&CE framework cannot interfere with a temple's religious activities, customs or forms of worship. Their remit, the court said, is confined to administration of temple properties and routine management.
Conflict Of Roles
The court also questioned an arrangement in which one officer simultaneously functioned as Executive Officer and Fit Person, observing that combining both roles weakens the checks and balances built into temple administration.
What Follows
The state assured the court that trustees would be appointed within six months, which would restore the trustee layer that ordinarily sits between the department and day-to-day temple decisions.