Tirumala Board special invitees case: AP HC stays govt orders

The government had issued GO 568 & 569 on September 15 regarding the appointment of 52 persons as special invitees of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) trust board for a period co-terminus with the term of TTD chairman.

The court action came in the wake of Public interest litigation terming the appointment of 'Special Invitees' to the TTD board as a violation of article 25 of the constitution and contrary to section 96 of Andhra Pradesh Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act, 1987.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Goswami and Justice Jayasuriya stayed two GOs based on a contention that they were issued in violation of section 96 of the AP Endowments Act.

The court said the issue needed a thorough inquiry and posted the next hearing for a date after four weeks.

Telugu Desam leader Umamaheswara Naidu from Kalyanadurgam of Anantapur district and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Bhanu Prakash Reddy filed a PIL challenging the two GOs nominating 52 special invitees to the trust board.

The petitioner's counsel Balaji argued that under section 96 of the AP Endowments Act, there was no provision to appoint 29 members to the TTD trust board. The maximum number of members had been increased from 15 to 19 and to 29, he said

He said the state government nominated 52 special invitees to the trust board against the norms. He said such a move would compromise the sovereignty of the TTD.

The petitioner also argued that the huge number of special invitees was a burden on the meager resources of the TTD run on the donations of devotees.

Andhra Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party president Somu Virraju had also submitted a memorandum to state Governor Biswa Bushan Harichandan against the government's move. Incidentally, few of the special invitees had already been sworn in at the Srivari temple amidst the confusion of the TTD management.