The Travancore Devaswom Board vs. Ayyappa Spices

ITEM NO.58

COURT NO.7

SECTION XI-A

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (C) No(s).10361-10362/2023

(Arising out of impugned final judgment and order dated 27-03-2023 in IA No. 3/2023 11-04-2023 in WP(C) No. 41743/2022 passed by the High Court Of Kerala At Ernakulam)

THE TRAVANCORE DEVASWOM BOARD

AYYAPPA SPICES & ORS.

Petitioner(s)

VERSUS

Respondent $(s)$

IA No. 101673/2023 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT AND IA No. 189476/2023 - PERMISSION TO FILE APPLICATION FOR DIRECTION)

Date: 03-11-2023 These matters were called on for hearing today.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE A.S. BOPANNA HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PAMIDIGHANTAM SRI NARASIMHA

	For Petitioner(s) Mr. V. Giri, Sr. Adv.<br>Mr. P. S. Sudheer, AOR<br>Mr. Rishi Maheshwari, Adv.<br>Ms. Anne Mathew, Adv.<br>Mr. Bharat Sood, Adv.<br>Ms. Miranda Solaman, Adv.
For Respondent(s)	Mr. Abhilash M.r., Adv.<br>Mr. Sayooj Mohandas, Adv.<br>Mr. Rajkumar, Adv.<br>Mr. Vinodh Kanna B., AOR
	Ms. Meenakshi Kalra, AOR
	Mr. C. K. Sasi, AOR<br>Ms. Meena K Poulose, Adv.
Signature Not Verified<br>Digitally signed by<br>Nisha Khulbey<br>Date: $2023.11.06$<br>Reason	Mr. K M Nataraj, A.S.G.<br>Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR<br>Mr. Yuvraj Sharma, Adv.<br>Mr. Vatsal Joshi, Adv.<br>Mr. Sandeep Singh, Adv.<br>Mr. Rukhmini Bobde, Adv.

Mr. T S Sabarish, Adv.

Mr. Anuj Srinivas Udupa, Adv.

UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following O R D E R

Heard the learned senior counsel as also learned counsel for the parties.

Arguments concluded.

Judgment reserved.

Written submissions/short notes, if any, be filed within one week from this day.

At this stage, the learned senior counsel for the petitioner(s) would submit that the stock of Aravanam Prasadam, which was to be distributed earlier, but prevented pursuant to the interim and final orders of the High Court, is still lying in the premises but the petitioner-Board is not intending of using the same.

In that regard, we take note of the report filed on behalf of the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) which would indicate that Aravanam Prasadam is fit for human consumption.

However, as the petitioner-Board itself has taken a decision that the Aravanam Prasadam will not be distributed, the stock presently existing will have to be destroyed as per the appropriate procedure as indicated by the State Government.

2

Under these circumstances, we direct the State Government to destroy/dispose of the existing stock of Aravanam Prasadam in an appropriate manner by following the necessary procedure. For this purpose, we also direct the Travancore Devaswom Board to extend complete co-operation and ensure that the stock is destroyed/disposed as it is stated that the next season for opening of the temple is due and fresh Aravanam Prasadam will have to be stored.

All necessary steps may be taken by the State Government and the Travancore Devaswom Board as expeditiously as possible.

(NISHA KHULBEY) (NIDHI WASON) SENIOR PERSONAL ASSISTANT COURT MASTER (NSH)