Telangana High Court stays suspension of Kondagattu temple trustee

HYDERABAD: Justice Chillakur Sumalatha of the Telangana High Court on Saturday stayed the orders issued by the Endowments Department principal secretary placing under suspension Tiruukoveluru Maruthi Swamy, the founder-trustee of Kondagattu Anjaneya Swamy temple in Muthyampeta of Mallial Mandal in Jagtial district.

The judge was hearing a petition filed by the trustee against his suspension. In his petition, Maruthi Swamy told the court that he has dedicated over two and a half decades of service to the temple, serving as both an archaka and Pradhana archaka.

He was accused of taking a ring from the temple’s hundi while counting the donations.Senior counsel V Ravi Kiran Rao, representing the trustee, asserted that the suspension was one-sided, against the principles of natural justice and also contradicted Section 28 of the Endowments Act, which stipulates that charges must be framed and evidence evaluated prior to suspension. “As these procedures were not followed, the suspension should be revoked,” senior counsel said.

Issuing notice to the Endowments department, the judge ordered an interim stay on the suspension of the trustee. It made it clear that the trustee cannot be involved in the process of counting donations.