Idol Sri Kalyana v. A.Panneerselvam,

BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT DATED : 27.04.2022

CORAM:

THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE R.SUBRAMANIAN AND THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE N.SATHISH KUMAR A.S(MD)Nos.187 and 188 of 2018 Idol Sri Kalyana Pasupatheeswarasamy, Sri Kalyana Pasupatheeswarasamy Devasthanam, Karur, Rep. by its Executive Officer.

... Appellant/1st Respondent/Plaintiff in both A.Ss.

Vs.

1.A.Panneerselvam 2.P.Senthil 3.P.Subramaniam 4.P.Kandasamy 5.K.Ashokkumar 6.R.Geetha Rani 7.S.Deepa 8.S.V.Alagappan 9.M.Krishnaveni 10.M.Panneer Selvam 11.Sampoornam 12.Kulandaivel 13.Jayaprakash 14.R.Selvaraj 15.P.Karthikeyan 16.V.Nallasivam 17.S.Kannammal 18.C.Rengasamy 19.P.Periyasamy 20.M.Pappathi 21.K.P.Mariappan 22.J.Sasiregha 23.Sobiya 24.K.V.Thangavel 25.P.Arumugam 26.K.Chellammal 27.P.Padmavathi 28.M.Moganambal 29.Vembayee 30.S.Manonmani 31.R.Eswaramurthi 32.P.Nallusamy 33.S.Banumathi 34.E.Senpagavalli 1/5

35.M.Sadasivam 36.S.Santhiya 37.M.Devasena 38.S.Suganthi 39.S.Mathivathana 40.S.Madhu 41.S.Pradip 42.C.Kalarani 43.V.Sudaravathanam 44.P.Boopathi Murugavel 45.K.Sengottuvel 46.Balasubramaniam 47.S.Gothai 48.S.Sasidevi 49.S.Radhika 50.N.Saroja 51.S.Palaniammal 52.K.N.Padmanaban 53.K.N.Balasubramaniam 54.M.Malarkodi 55.A.Rengasamy 56.A.R.Sundarrajan 57.S.Baranidharan 58.S.Swetha 59.S.Shanthi 60.Lavanya 61.Srimathi 62.N.Ramasamy 63.M.Karuppanan 64.K.Ramalingam 65.R.Parthiban 66.K.Kannaiyan 67.K.Ranjith 68.K.Logesh 69.K.Jagadeesh 70.Krishnapriya 71.V.Lakshmi 72.S.Marayee 73.K.Kamatchi 74.N.Gokulakrishnan 75.The Lakshmi Vilas Bank Ltd., Karur, Rep. by its General Manager, Karur.

76.M.Narayanasamy 77.D.Sukunthageetha 78.P.Natarajan 79.N.Palaniammal 80.Lakshmi 81.M.Krishnaveni 82.K.Dharmalingam 83.R.Subramani 2/5

84.R.Ramesh 85.K.P.Karthick 86.S.Ammaiyappan 87.K.Sukumar 88.N.E.Kumaran ... Respondents in A.S.(MD)No.187 of 2018 1.A.Panneerselvam 2.K.Muthusamy 3.M.Dhanabakkyam 4.P.Valarmathi 5.R.Poongodi 6.S.Jaya 7.S.Prabhu 8.M.P.Dharmalingam 9.R.Subramaniam 10.K.Balakrishnan 11.P.Ravikumar 12.P.Balusamy 13.P.Senthil 14.A.Perinbamani 15.A.Appu @ Marappan 16.K.Kandasamy 17.V.K.Shanthi 18.S.Seenirajapnisha 19.K.Muthusamy 20.M.Palaniappan 21.N.Mohamed Nacer 22.The Federal Bank Limited, Register office, Alwaye, Ernakulam District, Kerala Karur Branch 23.P.Kanagaraj 24.P.Pushbaraj 25.V.Manjula 26.E.A.Eswaramoorthy 27.P.Boopathi Murugavel ... Respondents in A.S.(MD)No.188 of 2018 PRAYER in A.S.(MD)No.187 of 2018: Appeal Suit filed under Section 96 of C.P.C., praying to set aside the judgment and decree dated 11.08.2017 made in I.A.No.6 of 2017 in O.S.No.

10 of 2017 on the file of the Additional District Judge, (FTMC), Karur. PRAYER in A.S.(MD)No.188 of 2018: Appeal Suit filed under Section 96 of C.P.C., praying to set aside the judgment and decree dated 11.08.2017 made in I.A.No.9 of 2017 in O.S.No.11 of 2017 on the file of the Additional District Judge (FTMC), Karur. in A.S.(MD)No.187 of 2018 For Appellant : Mr.G.Sridharan For R1 : Mr.A.

For R2, R9, R13 to R17, R26 to R31, R34, R36, R38 and R41 : No Appearance For R3 : Mr.E.K.Kumaresan For R6 : Mr.M.Guruprasad For R20 : Mr.R.Niresh Kumar in A.S.(MD)No.188 of 2018 For Appellant : Mr.G.Sridharan For R1 : Mr.A.Panneerselvam, Party-in-Person For R2, R3, R9 R13 to R16, R19 R22 to R25 : No Appearance For R8, R10 to R12 : Mr.M.Mithun For R18 to R21 R24 to R27 : Mr.P.Samuel Guna Singh For R20 : Mr.R.Niresh Kumar COMMON JUDGMENT R.SUBRAMANIAN, J.

AND N.SATHISH KUMAR, J.

These appeals are directed against the order of the trial Court, rejecting the plaint under Order 7 Rule 11(d) of C.P.C., on the ground that the Executive Officer had not obtained prior approval to institute the suit as required under Section 45(2) of Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious Charitable and Endowment Act, 1959. The necessity for an Executive Officer to obtain approval before instituting suit is no longer res integra. This Court had repeatedly held that an Executive Officer cannot maintain a suit without permission of the Commissioner.

In fact, Rule 4(b)(iii) of the Rules 2015 Conditions for Appointment of Executive Officers framed under the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act in the year 2015 mandates that the Executive Officer shall sue or be sued in the name of the religious institution in all legal proceedings with the approval of the competent authority, namely, the Commissioner. In fact, the Commissioner, HR & CE has issued a circular of 11.01.2005 instructing the Executive Officers to obtain prior approval for filing suits independently for each temple and each case. A similar circular has been issued again on 20.11.2020. The learned trial Judge has found that such approval has not been obtained.

2.Mr.G.Sridharan, learned counsel appearing for the appellant / Temple is unable to dispute the said finding. However, his 4/5

grievance is that the learned trial Judge in an application under Order 7 Rule 11(d) of C.P.C., had gone on the merits of the case and rendered certain findings, which cannot be justified in the absence of evidence. According to him, such findings would affect the temple's right in a suit, which it may institute pursuant to the liberty available to it under Order 7 Rule 13 of C.P.C. 3.We are in agreement with Mr.G.Sridharan, learned counsel for the appellant on the second submission regarding the other findings rendered by the trial Judge. In view of the factual situation that the approval has not been obtained, we sustain the order of the trial Court, rejecting the plaint. However, all other findings on the merits of the suit are set aside. The plaint will stand rejected only on the ground of want of prior approval. 4.

We make it clear that it is open to the temple to file a fresh suit, in view of the liberty available to it under Order 7 Rule 13 of C.P.C. If such a suit is filed after obtaining approval from the competent authority, the trial Court shall dispose of the same without being in any manner influenced by any of the observations made by the trial Judge in the order impugned in these appeals.

5.With the above observations, these Appeal Suits are dismissed. No costs.

Sd/- Assistant Registrar (CS II) // True Copy // / /2022 Sub Assistant Registrar(CS) Myr To 1.The Additional District Judge(FTMC), Karur.

2.The Section Officer, Vernacular Records, Madurai Bench of Madras High Court,Madurai.

+2 CC to M/s.G. SRIDHARAN, Advocate ( SR-21817 & 21818 dated 27/04/2022 ) +1 CC to M/s.B. SARAVANAN,(E.K.Kumaresan) Advocate ( SR-21988[F] dated 28/04/2022 ) +1 CC to M/s.P. SAMUEL GUNASINGH, Advocate ( SR-22643[F] dated 29/04/2022 ) +1 CC to Mr.M.MITHUN, Advocate SR.No. 21818 27.04.2022 MGJ(31.05.2022) 5P 9C 5/5