The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department has sought the permission of the Madras High Court to commence temple gold pre-melting process such as removal of lac, copper and other foreign materials from the ornaments that had been donated by devotees but found unfit for decorating the deities.
In a counter affidavit filed before the first Division Bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy, the department said it would be difficult to properly ascertain the exact quantity of gold available with individual temples without removing the foreign materials from the ornaments.
The counter was filed in response to public interest litigation petitions filed by Indic Collective Trust, temple activist T.R. Ramesh and others challenging the department’s decision to melt gold ornaments that had been dropped by devotees into the hundials (offering boxes) placed in temples under the control of the HR&CE Department.
