P.B.Suresh Kumar, J.
The petitioners in W.P.(C)No.32841 of 2014 are some of the members of the Advisory Committee of Sreenarayanapuram Mahadeva Kshetram. The petitioners in W.P.(C)No.33479 of 2014 are the Advisory Committee of the said temple as also its President.
2. The petitioners in W.P.(C)No.33479 of 2014 had earlier filed W.P.(C)No.31807 of 2014. In W.P.(C)No.31807 of 2014, it was alleged that when some of the members of the Advisory Committee of the temple resigned from office, the Deputy Devaswom Commissioner of the Travancore Devaswom Board (“the Board”) had directed the Assistant Devaswom Commissioner to reconstitute the Advisory Committee of the temple and that the said decision is illegal. However, when the W.P.(C)Nos.32841 & 33479 of 2014
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said writ petition came up for admission, it was submitted on behalf of the petitioners that the decision of the Board to reconstitute the Advisory Committee was challenged by them in an appeal before the Board and sought for a direction to the Board to consider the said appeal preferred by them. This Court, in the said circumstances, disposed of W.P.(C)No.31807 of 2014 as per judgment dated 1.12.2014, directing the Board to take up the appeal preferred by the petitioners therein and pass appropriate orders thereon within two months from 1.12.2014.
3. W.P.(C) No.32841 of 2014 has been filed later stating that the direction issued by the Deputy Devaswom Commissioner to reconstitute the Advisory Committee has been stayed by the Board without any reason. The petitioners in the said writ petition, therefore, seek directions to reconstitute the Advisory Committee of the temple as initially ordered by the Deputy Devaswom Commissioner.
4. W.P.(C)No.33479 of 2014 was filed still later stating that the Board had though stayed the operation of the W.P.(C)Nos.32841 & 33479 of 2014
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decision to reconstitute the committee initially, the said decision was revoked without any reason.
5. In so far as the appeal against the decision of the Deputy Devaswom Commissioner to reconstitute the Temple Advisory Committee is pending before the Board, we feel that the issues raised in these writ petitions can be considered by the Board in the said appeal. In the light of the facts placed before us in these writ petitions, we also feel it appropriate to direct the Board to take a final decision in the appeal pending before it expeditiously, in modification of the direction already issued in W.P.(C)No.31807 of 2014.
6. In the result, the Travancore Devaswom Board is directed to consider the appeal preferred by the petitioners in W.P.(C)No.31807 of 2014 against the decision of the Deputy Devaswom Commissioner to reconstitute the temple Advisory Committee and take a decision thereon, at any rate, within a period of three weeks from today. Since the interim order initially granted by the Board was vacated subsequently as indicated above, it is also ordered that the second petitioner in W.P.(C)Nos.32841 & 33479 of 2014
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W.P.C)No.33479 of 2014 shall not function as the Advisory Committee of the temple in the meanwhile and that they shall function as the Advisory Committee of the temple only subject to the decision of the Board.
The writ petitions are disposed of as above.
Sd/-
P.N.RAVINDRAN, JUDGE vpv Sd/-
P.B.SURESH KUMAR, JUDGE