Kerala HC Dismisses PIL Questioning Rights Of Pandalam Royal Family And Thazhaman Thanthri Family Over Sabarimala [Read Judgment]

The High Court of Kerala has dismissed public interest litigation seeking a direction to the Travancore Devaswom Board to take over Thiruvabharanam belonging to Lord Ayyappa from the Royal Family of Pandalam.

The bench comprising of Chief Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar dismissed the plea filed by Dr. S. Ganapathy seeking following declarations:

• That Royal Family of Pandalam does not have any right over the Sabarimala Temple and its assets.
• That Thazhaman family does not have any Thanthric rights over the Sabarimala and associate temples
• That Thanthric rights are not hereditary in nature.
• That the post of Chief Priest in Sabarimala, as well as Malikappuram temples, are open to all qualified persons belonging to Hindu religion.

He also sought a direction to the TDB and the state government:

• To take over ornaments (Thiruvabharanam) belonging to Lord Ayyappa from the Royal Family of Pandalam, after making proper assessment.
• To recover the loss, if any, caused to the gold ornaments of Lord Ayyappa, from the persons concerned.
• To prepare a list of qualified persons to be appointed as Chief Priest of Sabarimala and Malikappuram Temples, based on merit and make appointments from the select list, without resorting to the procedure of draw of lots.

Reluctant to entertain the plea, the bench said if the above prayers are to be considered by the court, many factual aspects would have to be first established as forming the foundation for the rights claimed through this PIL.

Giving liberty to the petitioner to establish the factual foundation for his claim before the proper forum, the court said: "The challenge here relates to religious belief and practice and the counsel for the petitioner failed to show, even on a prima facie basis, how such religious belief and practice should be a matter of court intervention." 

Read the Judgment Here