Tirupati, December 29: THE High Court issued an arrest warrant against Srikalahasteeswara Swamy temple executive officer Sriramachandra Murty for failing to appear in the court on Tuesday.
According to sources, some individuals, who had donated money to the temple for a diamond-studded crown, approached the court when the officer failed to give them a receipt for their donations. The court had summoned the officer to appear before it on Tuesday. But as he failed to do so, the court issued an arrest warrant against him.
When contacted, M Subrahmanyam Reddy, a member of the temple trust board, said the temple authorities had given `2.5 crore to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams in a phased manner from 2007 to 2009 for making the diamond-studded crown. But the TTD asked the Srikalahasti temple board that they need an additional amount of `15 lakh for making the crown. Then the trust board members, temple officials and staff had donated around `3 lakh for the purpose on their own.
Meanwhile, responding to the temple authorities’ appeal for donations, Maha Cements promoters and some other individuals came forward with donations. The executive officer, who received the donations, failed to issue receipts to them. In February this year, some donors demanded receipts from him saying the donations would enable them to get income tax deduction. When the officer failed to respond, the irked donors approached endowments department officials. With no response coming from them, they moved the High Court which summoned Murty.
–Agencies