HYDERABAD: BJP leader and

member Dr

, along with one Satya Paul Sabharwal, a law student from Delhi, on Wednesday filed a public interest petition in the Hyderabad High Court urging it to ‘liberate’ Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple at

, Sri Padmavathi temple in Tiruchanur and 11 other temples in

from government control.

The plea also urged the HC to order an external audit of the accounts, utilisation of funds, properties and jewellery of the

(TTD) by taking the last three years’ accounts into consideration. The plea also challenged various provisions of the AP Endowments Act, 1987, which is enabling the AP government to run the TTD by appointing a trust board, which they described as nothing but a body filled with nominees of the political executive. Under the guise of legal provisions to administer religious institutions, purportedly to provide better management or to prevent maladministration by private persons and in the name of protecting the temple and its properties, the state of AP has virtually usurped the religious rights of Hindu citizens to administer their temples as per the established practices and traditions, the petitioners said. It was also said that because of this excessive governmental control, the hereditary trustees, mahants, archakas and devotees have become passive observers with practically no say even in the religious matters of the temple.

Stating that the annual budget of TTD is more than Rs 2,600 crore and that hundreds of crores of rupees are being spent in a reckless manner without any external audit, the petitioners sought an audit of the TTD accounts of the last three years. They also wanted the court to strike down the state legislation and direct the centre to bring in a central legislation with the heads of various religious denominations, who are members of the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha. This is essential for striking a balance between the fundamental rights of religious denominations and the limited power of the state, they said.