The Andhra Pradesh high court on Wednesday ordered a stay on the decision of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) trust board to release Rs 100 crore for execution of sanitation and cleanliness works in Tirupati Municipal Corporation limits.
A division bench of the state high court comprising chief justice Dheeraj Singh Thakur and justice R Raghunandan Rao granted the stay based on a complaint filed by senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former TTD trust board member G Bhanu Prakash Reddy.
The high court wondered how the TTD could spend its funds, which are meant for taking up spiritual activities, on civic works in Tirupati town. It asked the TTD and Tirupati Municipal Corporation to file detailed counter affidavit within two weeks and posted the matter for further hearing after two weeks.
On November 22, the engineering wing of the TTD called for four different tenders worth about Rs 100 crore in the next 12 months for taking up sanitation and cleanliness around the TTD institutions and areas where pilgrims move in Tirupati town. The last date for filing of tenders closed on December 7.
Bhanu Prakash Reddy said the TTD’s decision to spend around Rs 100 crore on civic works in Tirupati town is illegal and violation of Section 111 of the Endowment Act 1987 and unconstitutional under Article 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India.
He argued that the TTD would get funds donated by crores of devotees every year and they cannot be spent on any other works except on for religious purposes and the temple management. It is the responsibility of the Tirupati Municipal Corporation to maintain the Tirupati town, he said.
TTD’s counsel argued that because of the institutions of the TTD were located in Tirupati town, it was very much justified to spend money on execution of sanitation works in Tirupati.
The high court bench asked the TTD counsel how much money the corporation was spending on sanitisation works in Tirupati, the latter said it was around Rs 50 crore every year.
The bench was surprised and why the TTD should spend Rs 100 crore on sanitation works in some areas, when the corporation itself was spending only Rs 50 crore for the entire municipal corporation.
