KOCHI: The high court has ordered the
Cochin Devaswom Board
to reinstate a
melshanthi
who was suspended for accepting Rs 20 as dakshina.
The court ordered the devaswom authorities to reinstate
Suresh Embranthiri
after considering a writ plea filed by him challenging the suspension order. The order was issued by
justice P V Asha.
"The court referred to a high court order, which had in 2012 ruled dakshina to be legal as it is being given out of reverence," said the petitioner's counsel Ganesh K R.
Suresh Embranthiri is the melshanthi of Machad Thiruvanikav temple . The board in its suspension order has alleged that the priest was accepting dakshina while giving sacred threads to illegally 'amass money'. "On September 23, it was observed by a vigilance team that the sacred threads were sold at the offerings counter of the temple. However, when a vigilance assistant sought a thread the priest gave a thread and said that there was no fixed rate and he usually accepts a dakshina,"the order had stated.
"The vigilance assistant then handed over Rs 20 and the priest accepted the same... It is understood that the sacred threads were being given to devotees like this for a while and that this was for 'illegal amassment of wealth," the order added.