All India Adi Saiva Sivacharyargal Seva Sangam vs. The State Of Tamil Nadu

ITEM NO.12

COURT NO.7

SECTION XII

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

Civil Appeal No(s). 7692/2023

SRIRANGAM KOIL MIRAS KAINKARYAPARAGAL MATRUM ATHANAI SARNTHA KOILGALIN MIRASKAINKARYAPARARGALIN NALASANGAM

Appellant( $s$ )

Respondent $(s)$

VERSUS

THE STATE OF TAMIL NADU & ORS.

[ONLY W.P.(C) NO. 985/2023 AND D.NO. 3540/2025 IS LISTED UNDER THIS ITEM ]

WITH

$W.P.(C)$ No. 985/2023 (X) IA No. 201522/2023 - APPLICATION FOR VACATION OF INTERIM ORDER IA No. 192269/2023 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS IA No. 188675/2023 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T. IA No. 188674/2023 - PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES IA No. 194308/2023 - PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES IA No. 187300/2023 - STAY APPLICATION IA NOS.122733/2025 - FOR INTERVENTION

Diarv No(s). 3540/2025 (XII) FOR ADMISSION IA No. 59315/2025 - CONDONATION OF DELAY IN REFILING / CURING THE DEFECTS, IA No. 59314/2025 - PERMISSION TO APPEAR AND ARGUE IN PERSON

Date: 14-05-2025 These matters were called on for hearing today.

CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.M. SUNDRESH HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH BINDAL

For Appellant(s)<br>Mr. P. Valliappan, Sr. Adv.<br>Mr. Guru Krishna Kumar, Sr. Adv.<br>Mr. G. Balaji, AOR
Mr. Neeleshwar Pavani, Adv.<br>Ms. Arzu Paul, Adv.<br>Ms. Vaishnavi, Adv.
Mr. Shiv Kumar, Adv.

Petitioner-in-person

For Respondent(s) Mr. D. Kumanan, AOR

Mr. P. S Raman Ag, Sr. Adv. Mr. Dushyant Dave, Sr. Adv. Mr. Jaideep Gupta, Sr. Adv. Mr. R. Shunmugasundaram, Sr. Adv. Mr. E. R Elango, Sr. Adv. Mr. Amit Anand Tiwari Aag, Sr. Adv. Ms. Misha Rohatgi, AOR Mr. N.r.r Arun Natarajan, Adv. Mr. Nakul Mohta, Adv. Mr. Ayush Kashyap, Adv. Mr. Aditya Dhingra, Adv. Mr. Amulya Upadhyay, Adv. Ms. Ayushi Gaur, Adv. Mr. Akshay Malpani, Adv. Ms. Racheeta Chawla, Adv. Ms. Shakeenaa, Adv. Mr. Aswin Parsanna, Adv. Mr. Agilesh Kumar S, Adv. Ms. Devyani Gupta, Adv. Ms. Tanvi Anand, Adv. Ms. Nandini Agarwal, Adv. Mr. A Renganath, Adv. Mr. Suchindran B N, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Sukumar, Adv. Mr. M Sathyanarayanan, Sr. Adv. Mr. B Karunakaran, Adv. Mr. Anoop Prakash Awasthi, AOR Mr. Shubham Dubey, Adv. Ms. Shruti Vaibhav, Adv. Mr. Rushikanta Dash, Adv.

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

W.P.(C) No. 985/2023 AND SLP DIARY NO. 3540/2025:

IA No.122733/2025 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 985 of 2023 seeking intervention is allowed, without any prejudice to the rights and contentions of the parties.

Cause title be amended within a period of one week.

We have heard the learned senior counsel appearing for the parties.

After hearing the submissions made at length, we are inclined to record the statement made on behalf of the State of Tamil Nadu that the Committee appointed by the High Court, is comprised of a person named Satyavel Murugan. The aforesaid person would be replaced, with a non-controversial person, to identify the number of Agama Temples as against the number of non-Agama Temples in the State of Tamil Nadu.

The entire identification exercise is expected to be completed within a period of three months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. Thereafter, liberty is given to the respondent-State of Tamil Nadu to fill up the vacancies in the non-Agama Temples, subject to strict compliance of the requisite customs, usage and practices and in light of the orders passed by this Court.

Insofar as Shri Arulmigu Ramanathaswamy Temple is concerned, without prejudice to the contentions of the parties, the Commissioner of the Tamil Nadu HR & CE Department is at liberty to fill up the existing vacancies for both Archakas and Maniyams, by strictly following the due procedure in the light of the requisite customs, usage and practices of the aforesaid temple and in light of the orders passed by this Court.

List these matters along with the main appeal on 18.09.2025.

(SWETA BALODI) (POONAM VAID) ASTT. REGISTRAR-cum-PS ASSISTANT REGISTRAR

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