Did Justice Anitha Sumanth order an interim injunction against the appointment of priests by the government?
Claim
DMK’s order on the priesthood for all caste scheme has fallen. Chennai High court has ordered an interim injunction against the scheme. Case number: WP 16287/2021 & WMP 17241/2021. Justice Anita Sumanth has ordered the interim injunction.
Rating
Explanation
DMK lead Tamil Nadu government has presented appointment orders under priesthood for all caste scheme to 58 priests to work in the temples under the Department of Hindu Religious Affairs. This tends to supporting and opposing posts on social media.
In this scenario, a web copy claiming it to be the court order mentioning as Justice Anitha Sumanth of Chennai High court has provided an interim injunction order against the priesthood for all caste scheme, case number: WP 16287/2021 & WMP 17241/2021 is being circulated on social media.
What is the Truth?
No news on the interim injunction order by Justice Anitha Sumanth is found when searched for the court order related to the TN government’s appointment orders to the priests. It would have created a debate among the political parties, the media and the government if such injunction decree was provided.
“An advertisement inviting the application for the post of priests in 38 temples under the Department of Hindu Religious Affairs was published on 6th July. One year priest certification was mentioned as eligibility criteria for the application. B.S.R.Muthukumar, General Secretary of All India Adi Saiva Sivacharyas Seva Sangam has appealed to eliminate the scheme and to appoint priests as per Agama rules only.
Justice Anitha Sumanth investigated the case and had ordered maintenance of the status quo. She also ordered the Department of Hindu Religious Affairs to file its counter by 25th August and adjourned the hearing”, reported the 9th August News 18 article.
August 16th Nakheeran article reported, “When the case came up to Justice Anitha Sumanth for hearing again, TN government chief advocate has requested to transfer the case to the session under Chief Justice which has another case with the same request. The Justice questioned him on how the priests are getting appointed and were they provided proper training. The government chief advocate replied that people with proper training alone are appointed as priests. Then, Justice Anitha Sumanth ordered the registry to transfer the case to the main session under Chief Justice”.
High Court advocate Ayyanar reported to us over a phone call, “No announcements were made regarding the interim infection order against the priest appointment by Justice Anitha Sumanth. When searched for the case details on the Chennai High court website it is mentioned as case transferred for hearing under the Chief Justice of the High court. Another case with the same request was pending under Chief Justice and hence this case too was transferred to the main session. The next hearing is on September 1. If an interim injunction was ordered, then the case details would have had the details of it, but no such details were found. It is rumoured that the Justice has ordered an interim injunction against the scheme”.
When we searched for the case details on the Chennai Highcourt website with the case number mentioned in the claim, it said that the case was transferred to the main session under Chief Justice on 18th August.
A web copy of the court order is shared in the viral post. Even this copy has the details about the transfer of the case.
Conclusion
Rumour has it that Justice Anitha Sumanth has ordered the interim injunction against the priesthood for all scheme by the TN government. Apparently, no such information as in the claim is found rather it is informed that the case is transferred to the main session under the Chief Justice.
Proof Links
