PIL filed HC against KCR

Hyderabad March 4: Political scientist Kancha Ilaiah and Social activist Gundam all Ramulu jointly filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Hyderabad High Court against Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for offering jewelry bought from tax payer's money to temples in TS and AP states.

The petitioners asked the government to court to make public, the amount that went into offerings made by KCR government, which had been recovered from Common Good Fund.

They stated that using the fund created under Section 70 and 71 of AP Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act, 1987 was illegal. They added that the state should restrain from spending the funds for a purpose other than the those indicated in the provision laid down by the law.

They forcefully demanded that the court declares the GOs 22 and 23 issued on February 24, 2015, for offerings to various deities indicated in the impugned GOs as illegal.

They also sought directions to the state chief secretary to recover the amounts spent in pursuance of the impugned GOs.

They were referring to the announcements made by the state chief minister to provide certain jewelry offerings to the deities of temples of Bhadrakali(Hanmakonda), Veerabhadra Swamy, Venkateswara Swamy in Tirumala, Padmavathi Ammavaru at Tiruchannuru and Kanaka Durga Ammavaru in Vijayawada.

The State has no religion and therefore, all its actions shall be in furtherance of subscribing secularism and it shall not encourage any religion in particular.

The state has issued the impugned GOs and executed it contrary to the philosophy envisaged under the Constitution, they stressed.