Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Thursday set aside the decision of the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam fixing the retirement age of hereditary archakas and mirasis at 65 years. It said the TTD had no jurisdiction to pass such resolutions by comparing hereditary archakas and mirasis with other employees.
Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao was dealing a petition of Mr A.B. Seshadri and another hereditary archaka of Sri Padmavathi Ammavari temple in Tiruchanoor. He directed the TTD to forthwith restore the services of the affected archakas as Sambhavana archakas in the temple and allow them to discharge their duties as long as they are physically fit.
The said the TTD was illegal and unconstitutional, holding that there was no rule framed by the AP government regarding the age of superannuation of families of the archakas who have been employed since 2006.
The court commented said that the TTD ought to have taken note of the fact that the state government as well as the Supreme Court had time and again treated hereditary archakas as a special category entitled to special benefits, but not par with other employees of the TTD.
The judge said, “Special status to the hereditary archakas was given with a view to preserving customs and sanctity of religious rituals handed to the present generation of archakas from their ancestors and ensure that rituals are performed strictly as per the shastras governing the temple.”
