BJP MP Subramanian Swamy has waded into the issue of the sacking of Tirumala chief priest Dr A V Ramana Deekshitulu, saying that he has decided to approach the Supreme Court to quash the dismissal by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD).
‘I have decided after seeing the grossly illegal exercise of power of TTD in sacking the Head Priest Ramana Dikshitalu. Hence I will move the SC for quashing the sacking and seek also a Court monitored CBI investigation into the financial misappropriation of Temple funds by TTD,’ Swamy tweeted.
I have decided after seeing the grossly illegal exercise of power of TTD in sacking the Head Priest Ramana Dikshitalu. Hence I will move the SC for quashing the sacking and seek also a Court monitored CBI investigation into the financial misappropriation of Temple funds by TTD
— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) May 21, 2018
This comes after Deekshitulu addressed the media last week in Chennai where he disclosed that the priests have filed a petition against the administrators demanding transparency pertaining to donations and jewellery.
They also demanded to bring the TTD administration under the ambit of the Right to Information Act.
Following this, Deekshitulu has been facing criticism and he was relieved from his duties on Friday.
A few Hindu organisations have also held protests and staged a demonstration against the TTD on Saturday, questioning its decision to remove Deekshitulu after he made serious allegations against the governing board of the temple.
The TTD Trust Board passed a resolution to state that all 'mirasi archakas' (hereditary priests) must be retired on reaching the age of 65.
A Venugopala Deekshitulu has now replaced 69-year-old Deekshitulu as head priest at the Lord Venkateswara temple atop Tirumala.